Topic
Mergers and Aqcuisitions
Intact unveils new brand name for MGA Frank Cowan
April 28, 2021 by Greg MeckbachIntact Financial Corp. is changing the brand name of Frank Cowan Company, the managing general agent it acquired in 2019 from Princeton Holdings. The MGA will be known as Intact Public Entities Inc. “The MGA distribution channel presents a strategic…
Change of plans for executive lineup at Heartland following Kings merger
April 27, 2021 by Greg MeckbachKings Mutual CEO Cara Cameron is not staying on after the Nova Scotia-based insurer merges with Heartland Farm Mutual Inc. If approved by regulators, the Kings-Heartland deal, initially announced on Jan. 18, will take effect June 30. The merger was…
Inside the merger of Highcourt and Breckles
April 15, 2021 by Greg MeckbachSearch engine optimization (SEO), electronic transactions, and contracts with carriers insuring small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are among the capabilities that made the Breckles Group of Companies attractive to Highcourt Partners. The merger of those two Canadian brokerages, resulting in…
Brokerage interest in M&A dips slightly in early 2021: CU survey
April 12, 2021 by David GambrillFor Canadian brokerage principals, interest in mergers and acquisitions as a growth strategy increased dramatically in September 2020, during the second wave of the pandemic, but seems to have cooled somewhat since then, according to the results of Canadian Underwriter’s…
Navacord builds up war chest to finance future M&A
April 6, 2021 by Greg MeckbachNavacord has built up a sizeable war chest to fund future mergers and acquisitions. The Toronto-based group of brokerages recently completed $1.05 billion in financing, a portion of which is to be used to take advantage of unspecified “M&A opportunities,”…
The rationale for Intact expanding its commercial appetite
March 26, 2021 by Greg MeckbachMid-sized commercial clients are going to get bigger, so executives with Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer want to continue their expansion in specialty lines. “We are really scaling up our specialty lines capability here in North America,” Intact Financial…
Hartford board rejects unsolicited takeover offer from Chubb
March 24, 2021 by Greg MeckbachThe Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. announced Tuesday its board of directors is not in favour of a US$23 billion takeover offer from Chubb Limited. Both Chubb and Hartford own Canadian property and casualty commercial insurers. Zurich, Switzerland-based Chubb announced…
Hartford ‘carefully considering’ proposed $23-billion merger with Chubb
March 19, 2021 by Greg MeckbachChubb Limited is offering to buy The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. for about US$23 billion. Chubb and Hartford each own property and casualty commercial insurers in Canada. Chubb is based in Zurich, Switzerland, while Hartford is based in the…
M&A report: Where Intact-RSA sits among Canada’s largest Q4 deals
March 17, 2021 by David GambrillIntact and Danish insurer Tryg’s $10.4-billion play for RSA Insurance Group plc topped the list of Canada’s largest deals announced in 2020 Q4, according to a recent report by corporate law firm Miller Thomson. The report defines the largest M&A…
How Intact will decide whether to keep RSA operations outside of Canada
March 2, 2021 by Greg MeckbachIt would have been difficult for Intact Financial Corp. to only buy RSA’s Canadian operation without buying other parts of London-based RSA plc, a senior Intact executive suggests. “It is difficult to pull [RSA Canada] away from the RSA Group…
Intact looks beyond RSA deal for more M&A
March 1, 2021 by Greg MeckbachIntact Financial Corp. will probably not be finished acquiring other insurers after Intact absorbs RSA Canada. “We will be ready at some point to take on more transactions in Canada,” Intact CFO Louis Marcotte said during the 22nd Annual Credit…
Property restoration space has ‘big capacity’ issue: Brindamour
February 19, 2021 by Greg MeckbachIntact Financial Corp. is aiming to build capacity in what CEO Charles Brindamour calls the “super-fragmented” restoration contractor industry. “Our thought process with On Side [Restoration] is very much consistent with what we tried to do with BrokerLink a decade…