NU Online News Service, Jan. 4, 3:56 p.m. EST

If the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 is any sign of things to come from a mergers and acquisitions perspective, then this year could be a very active season for brokerages.

During the month of December, two of the most prolific insurance brokerage firm acquirers, Arthur J. Gallagher and Brown & Brown, announced seven acquisitions between them.

There were also five other announced acquisitions in December:

o Marsh & McLennan Agencies' acquisition of Trion Group.

o USI's acquisition of Mastors & Servant

o Aon's acquisition of Insurance.ie

o Integro's acquisition of Reinsurance Advisory Services

o Ryan Specialty's acquisition of OakBridge Insurance Services

This month, in just a few short days, there have been eight announced acquisitions.

The most significant is Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC saying it has acquired Alpharetta, Ga.-based Strategic Benefit Solutions.

The benefits brokerage and consulting firm, with approximately $4 million in revenue, was founded in 1998 and offers a range of employee benefits services to middle market clients. The firm will operate within the Rutherford division of MMA.

MMA is a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh, which is a part of Marsh & McLennan Companies.

Chicago-based insurance broker HUB International announced four acquisitions today.

The acquired firms are:

o Benefit Resources, a retail employee benefits insurance brokerage firm in Colorado Springs, Colo.

o Sander A. Kessler & Assoc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based insurance brokerage firm.

o Hall-Conway-Jackson and Cascade Insurance Group, both Bothell, Wash.-based insurance brokerage and employee benefit firms that share joint ownership.

o Davis & Graeber Insurance Services of Redlands, Calif.

From Kansas City, Mo., insurance broker Lockton said today that its subsidiary, Lockton Dunning Benefits in Dallas, acquired Grizzaffi Darby, LLC. The two firms will combine to provide health and welfare benefits consulting expertise, productivity and wellness consulting through “a high touch service model.”

Grizzaffi, with 16 employees, will take the Lockton Dunning name but remain at its current office in Denton, Texas. The combined operation employs 150 associates.

Two firms that are not major acquisition players also announced some M&A activity.

Alliant Insurance Services, a major specialty insurance brokerage firm based in Newport Beach, Calif., said yesterday that it has acquired New York City-based T&H Group.

T&H Group is a regional full-service insurance brokerage firm that operated as Tanenbaum-Harber Co. until changing its name in 2010. It was established in 1860 and primarily targets upper middle market clients throughout the eastern region of the country.

T&H has 242 employees in offices in nine states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, Florida and California.

Also announced yesterday, Kingston, N.Y.-based Ryan & Ryan Insurance Brokers acquired Reis Turck Associates' insurance portfolio.

The acquisition, the second since Ryan & Ryan opened in 2009, increases the firm's annual sales by 25 percent, with an insurance portfolio that now covers over 1,100 clients.

Financial terms of the transactions announced this week were not released.

Special Reports /

2011 Begins With Busy M&A Activity For Brokers

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