Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. has signedan agreement to acquire global loss-adjusting, claims managementand risk-solutions firm Cunningham Lindsey.

Cunningham Lindsey assists businesses, insurance companies,brokers and policyholders by offering expert support when lossesoccur, such as during natural disasters. The company’s 6,000professionals comprise local teams in 600 offices across 60countries.

Sedgwick’s strategic acquisition of Cunningham Lindsey not onlybroadens the company’s international footprint, but will also helpto bolster its status as a global provider of risk and benefitsolutions.

In conversation with PropertyCasualty360, David North,Sedgwick’s president and CEO, noted that no third-partyadministrator has ever enjoyed such breadth and depth of sharedcapabilities and resources as the ones afforded by the CunninghamLindsey acquisition. The deal, he noted, offers Cunningham Lindseyempowering scale, recruitment power and training in what he calledthe “highly fragmented” loss-adjustment space, an area Northbelieves is in serious need of transformation.

The Cunningham Lindsey group includes a range of servicesthroughout all aspects of the risk management life cycle, includingpre- and post-loss, specialties in loss adjusting, third-partyclaims administration, global account management, forensicengineering and restoration, and repair consulting, amongothers.

These, North added, do much to complement the existing offeringsof Sedgwick and subsidiary Vericlaim, the acquisition of which three years ago markedSedgwick’s first real entry into the property loss-adjustingspace.

Once the deal is finalized, North added, Sedgwick “will haveabout 7,000 colleagues in the property-loss adjustment areaalone.”

“Joining forces with Sedgwick and Vericlaim presents anopportunity to provide our clients an end-to-end service solutionaround the world,” Jane Tutoki, Cunningham Lindsey’s global CEO,said in a statement. “We are excited about the next step in thisjourney with Sedgwick and Vericlaim to offer a truly global path totransform the way we provide our services together.”

The transaction’s close is subject to customary conditions andregulatory approvals.