Multi-line brokerage Andrew Agencies Ltd. announces acquisition of McCracken Insurance M.I.L. Ltd.

Multi-line brokerage Andrew Agencies Ltd. announced on Thursday the acquisition of Airdrie, Alta.-based McCracken Insurance M.I.L. Ltd.

Andrew Agencies will acquire McCracken Insurance on April 3, the former said in a press release. The new Airdrie location will be the brokerage’s first in Alberta and 18^th location overall, the other of which are in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

All staff of Andrew Agencies will remain, with Debbie Miller as branch manager. The current staff will also be complemented with existing product specialists, the release added.

“Andrew Agencies will strive to provide a high standard of quality products and service that the clients of McCracken Insurance have come to expect,” Andrew Agencies’ chief operation officer, Clint Smith, said in the release. “We are looking forward to serving Airdrie and area for many years to come.”

Miller said that “the McCracken family wish to thank all of our clients for their past support and loyalty. It has been a pleasure doing business in Airdrie and surrounding area for over 50 years. Our decision to sell our business to Andrew Agencies was based on the similarities of the two companies, one family business to another,” she said.

Andrew Agencies was established in 1913 as a general insurance and travel agency in Virden, Man. by the Andrew family. It offers home/condo/tenant insurance and commercial, automotive, travel and health insurance, as well as financial services.

The McCracken family has been providing insurance in Airdrie and the surrounding community since 1963. The release said that Ken McCracken started McCracken Insurance, which provides auto, home, farm, commercial and life insurance, in 1986. Over the years, two relocations brought the company to its current location in Airdrie in 1999.