Manitoba brokerages announce merger

Manitoba-based brokerages Horizon Insurance and Ryan Gateway Insurance Brokers have announced a merger of operations.
A release describes the merger as “the coming together of the oldest and the largest local insurance brokers in Manitoba.”
Ryan Gateway Insurance Brokers has provided service to 25,000 clients since it was founded in Winnipeg in 1903.
Horizon will have 18 locations in Manitoba as a result of the merger. It will feature a newly expanded 11,0000-square-foot head office and employ more than 180 people.
Horizon will be doing more than Cdn$50 million in home and business insurance, as well as handle more than 75,000 Autopac registrations annually, the release says.
Bryan Alsop, president of Ryan Gateway Insurance, will join Horizon’s board of directors.
Horizon president Michael Leipsic cited steady change in the marketplace as the main reason for bringing the two companies together.
“Customers now expect us to bring a higher level of product expertise as well as the ability to present to them with greater opportunities to meet their needs. We want to be seen as a trusted advisor, and a merger like this will allow us to provide that unprecedented level of personalized service.”