Brokerages negotiating a merger or acquisition don’t have to stop because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Canadian M&A advisor suggests. “A good deal can get done. I suspect it may take a bit longer,” said Georges Pigeon (pictured), Montreal-based deal…
Dalton Timmis Insurance Group Inc. and McLean Hallmark Insurance Group Ltd. are among the Canadian brokerages who are now adopting the NFP brand name, New York City-based NFP announced Tuesday. NFP closed its acquisition of Toronto-based McLean Hallmark this past…
Disruption by fintechs will be one driving force behind mergers and acquisitions among insurance brokerages, industry executives say.“I think fintech will help perpetuate this continued consolidation trend because I think at the small end of the market, fintech is viewed…
When private equity players are looking to buy firms they think are “recession proof” and brokerage owners reach retirement age, it’s a recipe for more mergers and acquisitions, insurance professionals heard last week at KPMG Canada’s 28th annual insurance conference.…
Now is a good time for brokerages to sell their businesses and in some cases, the buyers come from outside the industry, speakers told insurance professionals at the recent A.M. Best briefing. “If I was in the [P&C] business I…
If a blockbuster insurer merger gets announced tomorrow, it probably won’t involve Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., which has grown steadily through insurer acquisitions over the past 34 years. “We are not looking to add in a significant way from…
Brokers can expect to see insurers representing nearly a fifth of the Canadian P&C market to be bought and sold, the head of Canada’s largest carrier suggested Wednesday. “We laid out the perspective seven or eight years ago that 20…
If you run a brokerage in Ontario, Alberta or Atlantic Canada and there is no BrokerLink in your town, there soon could be. Intact Financial Corp.’s BrokerLink unit has closed seven brokerage acquisitions since Jan. 1, said Paul Meyer, BrokerLink’s…
While Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. is not ruling out the possibility of buying small specialty insurance players, don’t expect the firm to buy any big insurers any time soon. Toronto-based Fairfax, whose holdings include Northbridge Insurance, bought the majority of…
Information technology is one driving force behind mergers and acquisitions involving property and casualty insurance brokerages. Acquiring new products, talent and technology are among the reasons behind M&A activity in P&C insurance, said Georges Pigeon, a Montreal-based partner with KPMG’s…
Cyber risk goes up if a company goes through a merger or acquisition, an information security consultant suggests. One way your client can reduce cyber risk is to know what hardware and software is on their computer network, Jeremy Hurst,…
Hub International Ltd. continues to buy Canadian property and casualty brokerages, with the acquisition of Ottawa-based Access Insurance Brokers Inc. as well as a Saskatchewan provider of farm insurance. Chicago-based Hub announced Monday it has acquired Frontier Business Centre Ltd.,…