Marsh & McLennan Agency Makes First Acquisition

NU Online News Service, Nov. 12, 3:24 p.m. EST

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC, a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh Inc., today announced the first of a series of planned strategic acquisitions in its plan to build a national business.

The company, without disclosing financial terms, said it had acquired Insurance Alliance, which it described as one of the largest independent insurance agencies in Texas.

Marsh & McLennan Agency said its goal is to create a business to serve the needs of small to mid-sized companies across the country.

Houston-based Insurance Alliance has an annual revenue of $15 million and serves over 1,500 commercial clients located primarily in Texas and throughout the Southwest, according to Marsh.

Insurance Alliance has specialist teams serving clients in construction, surety, energy and marine, professional services, general property and casualty, and employee benefits, said Marsh. Established in 1992, Insurance Alliance has 72 employees.

David Eslick, chairman and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Agency, called Insurance Alliance, "a well-managed and growing enterprise with a highly qualified professional team and a reputation for service excellence," that "fits perfectly with the national organization we are working to build at Marsh & McLennan Agency."

In addition to announcing the acquisition, Marsh & McLennan Agency said Woody Woodard has been appointed chief executive officer of its new Southwest operation. Mr. Woodard had been chairman of Insurance Alliance. In addition, Insurance Alliance executives Jim Berger will be chief operating officer and Jim Tomforde will be vice president of sales for the Southwest.

Mr. Woodard said, his organization looks forward "to helping build what we expect will be among the top national organizations in this industry."

Marsh announced the establishment of Marsh & McLennan Agency in October 2008, saying it planned to make it one of the premiere insurance agencies in the United States, offering commercial property and casualty, personal lines, and employee benefits to client across the U.S.

The new operation said it is planning additional acquisitions as it moves to build a national organization. Mr. Eslick, who joined the firm at the start of 2009, has a track record of success in building national insurance agencies in the same manner, Marsh said.