Marsh, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Cos.,says it has acquired CosmosServices (America) Inc., the U.S. insurance-brokeragesubsidiary of global trading firm Itochu Corp.

With offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, Cosmosspecializes in providing commercial P&C, personal-lines andemployee-benefits brokerage services to U.S. subsidiaries ofJapanese companies. It has annual revenues of approximately $8million.

Cosmos' employees will become part of Marsh's Asia ClientServices (ACS) team under the leadership of John McDonnell,president and CEO of ACS in the United States. Marsh says the dealfurther strengthens its capabilities and resources in servingJapanese clients in the U.S. and also forges a strategicrelationship between Marsh and Itochu.

In other acquisition news, Chicago-based Hub International Ltd.says it has acquired the assets of Signature Insurance Group Inc.,a Woodinville, Wash.-based insurance-benefits brokerage firm.

Signature is a long-standing brokerage serving the insurance andrisk-management needs of businesses and individuals throughoutWashington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. Signature offers a range ofpersonal- and commercial-lines products and services, with aspecialty in serving condominium associations and apartmentcomplexes.

Signature will become part of the Hub International Northwest(Hub Northwest) operation.

Dennis Boyd, vice president of real estate sales, will join HubNorthwest in connection with this transaction, reporting to ErikKuhn, vice president of commercial retail. Boyd was a former memberof the Seattle Seahawks pro football organization as a playerduring the late '70s and early '80s. 

Terms of both transactions were not disclosed.