Business Moves

National

American Coastal Insurance, Interboro Insurance, Forza Insurance Holdings

American Coastal Insurance Corp. (ACIC) has agreed to sell its subsidiary Interboro Insurance Co., a New York domiciled insurer, to Forza Insurance Holdings, a Houston-based firm that funds insurance organizations serving coastal property owners.

Forza will expand its coastal coverage by acquiring 100% of the issued and outstanding stock of Interboro.

Closing is subject to the approval of the New York Department of Financial Services.

ACIC had indicated it had a buyer for Interboro last November, at which time Interboro’s book value was approximately $23 million.

The transaction completes the run-off of ACIC’s personal lines portfolio and allows ACIC to focus on its commercial specialty property portfolio in Florida.

Located on Long Island, New York, Interboro writes homeowners insurance in New York through 450 independent brokers. Interboro is also licensed to write business in South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama and Washington, D.C.

Interboro’s personal lines homeowners and fire insurance products are written exclusively in New York, with approximately 18,700 policies and $34 million of premium in-force.

Concurrently, Interboro entered into program and claims administration agreements with SageSure, a managing general agent specializing in coastal residential and commercial property insurance.

East

King Insurance Partners, Marcus Insurance

Florida-headquartered King Insurance Partners has acquired Marcus Insurance, an independent agency based in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

The terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 1941, Marcus Insurance is a family-run agency with Mitch Marcus as president, and Zach Marcus as vice president. The agency offers personal and commercial insurance and benefits.

Marcus is King’s third agency in Connecticut. It also has locations in Avon and Essex.

Relation Insurance Services, Elite Insurance Agency

California-based Relation Insurance Services has acquired Elite Insurance Agency Inc.

Elite, based in Brooklyn, New York, offers employee benefits, commercial insurance, and high-net-worth personal insurance. Owner Yechiel Bromberg will continue managing that office as part of Relation.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Bromberg said Relation’s “expertise and broad network of carrier relationships” will allow his agency to offer clients the “best options for coverage that fits their needs.”

Relation Insurance Services is ranked by Insurance Journal within the top 25 largest agencies in the country by revenue and has approximately 1,350 employees across more than 137 locations nationwide.

Privately-held Relation is backed by Aquiline Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in New York and London.

Midwest

Risk Strategies, Silveus Insurance Group

Risk Strategies acquired Silveus Insurance Group Inc. (Silveus).

Silveus, an Indiana-based broker, dates back to 1940 and is the country’s largest independent specialty provider of crop insurance.

Terms of the deal were not provided.

Based in Warsaw, Indiana, Silveus is widely recognized nationwide for its deep expertise and understanding of both federal and private products available to growers to reduce their risk exposures.

The firm is the industry leader in private product development, selling a variety of private and federal insurance products.

The firm’s client base is geographically diverse, spanning 40 states, and ranges from small, five-acre farms to some of the nation’s largest corporate farming operations.

Inszone, ISU Coverall Insurance Group

Inszone Insurance Services announced the acquisition of ISU Coverall Insurance Group, a prominent full-service insurance broker serving the Chicago area.

Founded in 2013 by Casey Brennan, ISU Coverall offers personal, commercial and life insurance.

Sacramento, California-based Inszone is an insurance brokerage firm that provides property/casualty insurance and employee benefits solutions. The firm has 65 locations across California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington.

Arthur J. Gallagher, CCI Surety

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced that its U.S. wholesale brokerage, binding authority and programs division, Risk Placement Services Inc. (RPS), has acquired Golden Valley, Minnesota-based CCI Surety Inc.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded by Michael Williams and led by Jeremy Crawford, CCI Surety is a managing general underwriter (MGU) specializing in wholesale contract and commercial surety bonds for retail agents throughout the U.S.

Crawford and the CCI Surety team will remain in their current location under the direction of Matt Lynch, head of RPS’ national binding operations.

South Central

Inszone, JHC Insurance Agency, T Blackwell Insurance Group

Sacramento, California-based Inszone Insurance Services acquired the JHC Insurance Agency Inc., an independent insurance agency serving the Victoria, Texas, community and beyond.

Rooted in the values of independence and client-focused service, JHC Insurance Agency has become a key player in the insurance sector of the Victoria community. The agency specializes in evaluating clients’ insurance needs and designing customized insurance programs to meet those needs.

Inszone Insurance Services also acquired T Blackwell Insurance Group, an agency based in Garden Ridge, Texas.

Founded by Tracey Blackwell in 2012, T Blackwell Insurance Group has carved a niche in personal lines insurance, offering a spectrum of services from home and auto to life insurance.

Relation Insurance Services, First Insurance

Relation Insurance Services acquired the assets of First Insurance an Affiliate of FirstBank Inc.

The transaction went into effect on April 1; terms of the deal were not disclosed.

First Insurance, based in Durant, Oklahoma, offers commercial and personal insurance with specialties in farm and ranch.

Relation Insurance said in an announcement it is actively seeking partnerships to expand its offerings, industry expertise, and geographic footprint.

Southeast

The Liberty Co., Ayers Brackfield Insurance

The Liberty Co. insurance brokers, based in Gainesville, Florida, continues to expand with the addition of Ayers Brackfield Insurance in Knoxville, Tennessee.

ABI, in business since 1992, has operations in 18 states, offering personal and commercial lines of insurance products.

Kristi Brackfield, owner of ABI, called it a strategic move that will allow the agency to expand its offerings to clients.

Terms of the deal were not provided.

Brown & Brown, Public Entities of America

A part of Brown & Brown’s wholesale insurance group has acquired Public Entities of America LLC, a brokerage based in Alpharetta, Georgia, that caters to the public sector and risk management marketplace.

PEA will now be part of Apex Insurance Agency, which is part of Bridge Specialty Group, B&B’s wholesale platform.

Brown & Brown is based in Daytona Beach, Florida, and has expanded through acquisitions in recent years.

The PEA team will join the Apex agency and work with leaders Apex Vice President Michelle Hill, and with Karl Snearer, Apex president and regional leader for Bridge Specialty.

PEA said it has several hundred public sector clients, including small communities, large municipalities, counties, public schools and utilities.

West

Mercury Insurance, Tokio Marine America, Trans Pacific Insurance

Los Angeles-based Mercury Insurance announced a plan to assume 12,556 home policies of Tokio Marine America (TMA) and its subsidiary, Trans Pacific Insurance Co. (TPIC). The policies represent premiums of $11.3 million.

TMA offers personal lines insurance only in California and writes only a small percentage of the state’s market. The company announced in April that it would

be exiting personal lines in the state in July because it determined it cannot “sustainably support” such a small segment of personal lines business given the cost of updating information technology systems.

TMA’s and TPIC’s exit has no impact on any other Tokio Marine Group company, and the company will continue writing commercial coverage for businesses in California and across the country, according to an announcement.

Mercury Insurance offers personal auto, homeowners, and renters insurance directly to consumers and through independent agents in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia, as well as auto insurance in Florida.

TMA sells commercial property/casualty insurance products in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.

Crest Insurance Group, Crossroads Insurance Services

Crest Insurance Group acquired trucking and transportation specialist Crossroads Insurance Services in Henderson, Nevada.

Crest said its Henderson location will become the hub of Crest’s trucking and transportation division and will provide the logistical base to expand the agency’s services to existing Nevada clients.

With the acquisition, Frank Maglalang, Crossroads’ founder, with more than 30 years of experience in transportation and trucking insurance has joined Crest.

Crest is licensed in 50 states, with a physical presence in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Wyoming. The firm has more than 250 employees.

Inszone, Nam International Insurance Services

Sacramento, California-based Inszone Insurance Services acquired Nam International Insurance Services Inc. in Fremont, California.

Nam was founded in March 2003 by Parvinder Janda to serve the insurance needs of individuals and businesses in the Fremont area.