Gallagher to Buy Nearly All the Business of Lloyd’s Insurance Broker

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. said it plans to acquire nearly all of the insurance brokerage business of London-based FirstCity Partnership Ltd. Terms were not disclosed.

FirstCity Partnership Ltd. is a Financial Services Authority-authorized Lloyd's insurance broker and advisory firm that focuses on insurance coverage for the financial services industry, Illinois-based Gallagher said. FirstCity also offers coverages for professional risk, asset protection and trade and political risks, among others.

Linda Collins, a spokeswoman for Gallagher, said the company has been a Lloyd's registered broker for decades. Gallagher has operations in 15 countries, and London is one of its larger markets, she said.

Tim Watkins and a team of brokers will operate as the financial and professional lines division, a unit within Gallagher's U.K. brokerage. The remaining staff will merge into Gallagher's existing U.K. brokerage operations. All divisions will report to David Ross, chief executive officer of Arthur J. Gallagher (UK) Ltd., the firm's Lloyd's broker.

The acquisition of FirstCity would be Gallagher's third so far this year, Collins said. It acquired a Brazilian broker in February and a retail broker in California earlier this month, she said.

In February, Gallagher acquired a facultative reinsurance broker, Securitas Re of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Securitas Re, now renamed Gallagher Brazil, was acquired from Estater Gestao de Investimentos Ltda (BestWire, Feb. 17, 2010).

Arthur J. Gallagher is the fourth-largest broker in the world based on 2008 brokerage revenue, according to Best's Review magazine's annual rankings. The company has expanded through acquisitions in recent months, including purchasing Concord, N.C.-based Shuford Insurance Agency Inc. in November (BestWire, Nov. 24, 2009).

In October, it acquired wholesale broker Triad Insurance Agency Inc. in Honolulu from the Bank of Hawaii and acquired Fox Lawson & Associates, a consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn., that specializes in compensation and human resources issues (BestWire, Oct. 26, 2009).

On the afternoon of March 29, Gallagher's stock (NYSE: AJG) was trading at $24.79 a share, up 0.08% from its previous close.

(By Fran Matso Lysiak, senior associate editor, BestWeek: [email protected])