Broker deals continue at near-record pace in second quarter

Insurance broker merger and acquisitions continued apace in the United States and Canada in the second quarter of 2018, but at a slower rate than the same period last year, according to an Optis Partners L.L.C. report.

The Chicago-based M&A advisory and consulting firm said Thursday that 135 broker and agency transactions were completed in the second quarter, down 8.2% compared with the same period in 2017, but still the second highest second-quarter total in the past 10 years.

For the first half of 2018, 280 transactions were completed, down 15.9% from the 2017 period; but again, the 2018 first-half total was the second largest for the period in the past decade.

Of the 280 deals in the first half of 2018, 188 were by private equity-backed brokers, 55 were by privately owned brokers, 24 were by publicly owned brokers, 10 were by bank-owned brokers, and three were by other firms.

The top three acquirers in the first half were: Acrisure L.L.C. with 41 deals, Hub International Ltd. with 33 and AssuredPartners Inc. with 19.