Robert F. Driver Co. Sold to Alliant Resources

One of San Diego’s best-known independent insurance brokerage firms, Robert F. Driver Co. Inc., is becoming part of Alliant Resources Group Inc., an insurance brokerage and financial services distribution company.

Driver Chairman and CEO Tom Corbett told IJ that the deal was a win-win situation for both companies. “We’ve been talking with Alliant for nine or 10 months,” Corbett said. “We’ve been approached by a lot of acquisition partners, but I want to stress, we’ve never approached any of them.” Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Corbett said Driver can now be “the anchor store in the mall” for Alliant. Considered among the top 35 brokerages nationally based on revenue volume, Driver, founded in 1925, had revenues of $56 million for the year 2000 and manages in excess of $500 million in premiums. Driver maintains offices in San Diego, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, Escondido, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, San Francisco, San Rafael and Ontario, Calif.

As part of Alliant, Driver will be responsible for brokerage operations in California, Oregon and Washington, and will also serve as Alliant’s national platform for managing general agency and program business.

Having branded a successful company for more than seven decades, the Driver name will likely stay on in some capacity with the new deal, Corbett said. “We plan to keep the name as far as possible into the future,” he said. “The Driver name means a lot and it is very well-known.” No decisions on a new name have been made at this point.

Corbett said employees were taking the change in stride. “We had a round of employee meetings and I think everyone is positively motivated about this decision,” he said. Corbett noted that 100 percent of the company’s shareholders approved the transaction.

Corbett also sees opportunity and the need for growth with the new deal. “We look to get bigger and pursue some new offices in the Pacific Northwest,” Corbett said. “We’ll look at Seattle and Portland, among other areas.” Corbett noted that having Alliant’s distribution capability available to sell Driver’s specialized insurance products on a national basis will benefit the company.

For John Addeo, co-founder and CEO of Alliant, the deal offered nothing but positives.

“I indirectly knew about Tom and his organization and I know they have an outstanding management team,” Addeo said. “Their strategies were very much aligned with our strategies. Our goal is to expand Driver’s revenues two to three times what they are now over the next three years.”

Anchored by Driver in the Pacific region, Alliant is aggressively pursuing additional acquisitions and strategic partnerships throughout the country.

As part of the transaction, Corbett will become part of Alliant’s board of directors and continue on as CEO of Driver, with present senior management officers, chief operating officer Jerry Hall and chief financial officer Greg Zimmer, both joining him. The three will become part of Alliant’s operating committee.

The timing is right for Alliant to continue growing and tapping into new markets.

“Right now, we’re at a run rate [revenues a company would have in the next year if the current revenue rate remains unchanged] of about $70-$75 million,” Addeo said. “We’re looking for a rate of around $125 million.”

Topics Personal Auto Alliant