Business Moves

Neff Risk, Cochrane

Neff Risk and Cochrane and Co. are officially one.

The combined company will operate under the name Cochrane and Company and be headquartered in Spokane, Wash.

The resulting footprint of the merger will include new states for Cochrane and Co., as well as new products and markets for Neff Risk, with the offices in Arizona, New Mexico, and Montana operating as branch offices.

Cochrane and Co. established in 1960 is a surplus lines wholesaler that is currently working with 1,700 retailer customers in the 14 western states, providing insurance for property and casualty binding business, commercial brokerage business, transportation including long haul truck, personal lines, garage, programs, surety, and professional liability.

Arthur J. Gallagher, Kahl

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Kahl Insurance Services LLC in Englewood, Colo.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kahl Insurance is a retail property/casualty and risk management insurance brokerage focused on the healthcare industry. They offer risk management programs and services to their healthcare-provider clients including hospitals, physician practice groups, integrated delivery groups, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities, blood banks and managed care organizations throughout the United States.

Steven E. Kahl and his staff will continue to operate in their current location under the direction of James McFarlane, western regional manager of Itasca, Ill.-based Gallagher’s retail property/casualty brokerage operation.

Arrowhead, Brown & Brown

The parent company of managing general agent San Diego, Calif.-based Arrowhead General Insurance Agency Inc. has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Brown & Brown Inc.

The purchase price is $395 million, subject to adjustments for certain items such as Arrowhead’s working capital, debt and net tax operating losses. An additional payment of up to $5 million may be made three years after closing, depending on Arrowhead’s EBITDA during the last year of that period.

Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Brown & Brown is acquiring Arrowhead from Spectrum Equity Investors, JMI Equity and a management equity holder group. The transaction is expected to close in January and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. The transaction will be a cash transaction and is not subject to financing conditions.

Arrowhead, together with its subsidiary, American Claims Management Inc. (ACM), a third-party claims administrator, and its other subsidiaries, is expected to have total annual 2011 net revenues of approximately $105 million.

As part of this transaction, Arrowhead and ACM will continue to operate in their current locations in the greater San Diego area. Alexander Anthony Insurance LLC, an Arrowhead subsidiary, will continue to operate in its Salt Lake City, Utah, location.

Brown & Brown, through its subsidiaries, offers insurance and reinsurance products and related services. Additionally, certain Brown & Brown subsidiaries offer risk management, third-party administration, and other services.

SIAA, CoVerica

Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance Inc. (SIAA), a national alliance of over 3,900 independent insurance agencies, announced that master agency partner CoVerica Agency Alliance, formerly SIG Agency Alliance, has expanded into California. CoVerica’s territory in California will include the northern Los Angeles and Sacramento areas.

CoVerica in California will be managed locally by Bill Kinney, president and CEO of Kinney and Co. of Pasadena, Calif. Kinney has experience serving a multi-cultural and ethnically diverse customer base. He has served on a number of advisory boards for insurance carriers over his 33 year career.

Arthur J. Gallagher, Transwestern

Transwestern General Agency Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Transwestern is a managing general agent and wholesale insurance broker providing excess and surplus, property/casualty, professional business liability and other specialty insurance products and services to their independent insurance agent and broker clients primarily in the Intermountain Western United States.

They specialize in insurance coverage for high-net worth individuals and the transportation industry.

Jeffrey Burgener and his associates will continue to operate from their current location under the direction of Joel Cavaness, president of Risk Placement Services Inc., a subsidiary of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., according to a statement by the companies.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., is headquartered in Itasca, Ill., has operations in 16 countries.

Topics California A.J. Gallagher