Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent of specialist UK insurance broker Stackhouse Poland Group Ltd.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter 2019. Financial details of the deal were not released.
Founded in 1974 as a local community broker, Guildford, England-based Stackhouse Poland has since grown organically and through strategic acquisition into a highly successful, large-scale specialist UK insurance broker generating over £55 million ($70 million) in annualized revenues, said Gallagher in a statement.
With more than 500 employees, Stackhouse Poland operates from a network of 23 offices across the UK. It has well-established insurance divisions specializing in high-net-worth private clients, real estate, commercial, healthcare and a wide range of specialist insurance sectors, the statement continued.
“Having begun life as a small, general practice broker, Stackhouse Poland has since grown through a well-managed blend of organic growth and targeted acquisitions, just like Gallagher,” said J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Rolling Meadows, Ill.-headquartered. “With its suite of specialisms and first-class reputation among clients in the UK marketplace, it will make an outstanding addition to our global team.”
“This is a fantastic opportunity to bring together our two high-performing businesses,” said Michael Rea, CEO of the UK Retail division at Gallagher, which serves customers from more than 50 locations.
“We’ve long admired Stackhouse Poland as an ambitious, well-run insurance broker with an impressive portfolio of specialisms that are highly complementary to our own, such as private clients, real estate, marine, churches and education,” he added.
“In Gallagher we have found the ideal ally to take the business to the next level. It is clear that the Gallagher team shares Stackhouse Poland values – putting clients first by employing and developing top class insurance professionals,” commented Tim Johnson, Group CEO of Stackhouse Poland. “The support we have had from our investment partners at Synova* has seen us grow into a significant business in the UK marketplace, and the time was right to find a long-term global partner.”
Jeremy Cary, executive chairman of Stackhouse Poland, said: “For the last 17 years, initially with business partner James Agnew and more recently in wider partnership with Tim Johnson & Synova, we have resolutely focused on building a private client and specialist commercial broking business, where organic growth has been equally important as growth by acquisition. Stackhouse Poland’s success has been a consequence of the fantastic clients we serve and the equally fantastic people we employ. The Gallagher business is infused with a similar culture, where it is all about clients and colleagues, and so I am happy to be passing the baton to a great home.”
* Established in 2007, and headquartered in London, Synova Capital is a European growth investor in companies typically valued at between £10 million and £100 million in the areas of financial services, technology, business services, and health & education. Synova invested in Stackhouse Poland in 2014, providing capital for acquisitions and strategic guidance to Tim Johnson and the wider management team.
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