Marsh to acquire HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Marsh has reached an agreement to acquire HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd (HIBL), a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank.
Under the terms of the agreement, Marsh will acquire HIBL in consideration of £135 million, comprising a mixture of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. stock and cash.
The transaction, which is subject to all relevant regulatory approvals, is expected to close in 2010 Q1.
Concurrent with this transaction, Marsh is entering into a preferred strategic partnership (PSP) with HSBC, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, which, Marsh says, “will provide additional revenue opportunities to the company.”
Under the terms of the PSP, Marsh will have preferred access to provide insurance broking and risk management services to HSBC’s corporate and private clients.
HIBL, an international provider of risk intermediary and risk advisory services headquartered in London, has approximately 1,400 employees located in 30 offices in the United Kingdom, Middle East and Asia.
HIBL holds prominent market positions in countries where Marsh has both a significant presence and major plans to grow — including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. It also has market positions in sectors such as education, marine and specie (protection against loss or damage to valuables in transit).
“We also see good growth potential in placing third party business generated via HIBL’s accident, health and contingency, cargo, specie and North American practices,” Marsh chairman and CEO Dan Glaser said in a statement. “We will manage this specialist business through a dedicated business unit, called Gibbs Hartley Cooper — reviving the name of the venerable independent broker which can trace its roots back to 1808.”
Clive Bannister, group managing director of insurance at HSBC Holdings plc, said: “The beauty of this agreement is that on the one hand we are improving the breadth and sophistication of HSBC broking services for our customers, while at the same time sharpening our strategic focus on the bancassurance model, with emphasis on life, pensions and investments.”