City Financial sells its last business

City Financial Corp. said it sold City Securities Insurance to a national insurance brokerage firm, a deal that completes the storied holding company's plan to sell off its individual businesses and marks the end of a 92-year run.

City sold CSI, as it is called, to New York-based NFP Corp., a broker and consultant that primarily helps big clients secure property-and-casualty insurance and employee-benefits coverage. The transaction closed Dec. 31, though its terms were not disclosed.

City, whose roots date to 1924, had been evaluating strategic options the past several years, a process that concluded in 2016 with the sale of CSI and two other companies.

It sold City Real Estate Advisors, a housing-tax-credit syndicator, in June to Omni Holding Co., and it announced a deal in September to sell investmentbrokerage firm City Securities Corp. to Stifel Financial Corp.

The transaction with Omni closed in June and the Stifel deal was set to close Jan. 13. The prices weren't disclosed.

"It's a bittersweet situation," CSI President John Dillon said. "The company was here since 1933 and we were doing just fine, but it's one of those things in life where the time came to make a decision."

He added, "This is the best situation- local head count remains in place and we receive the benefit of national resources."

Under the agreement with NFP, CSI's 35 employees will be retained and will continue to operate out of the same office at 8900 N. Keystone Ave. Dillon will join NFP as a managing director and report to Terry Scali, CEO of NFP's property-andcasualty division.

CSI had 3,500 clients and $6.5 million in annual revenue, Dillon said. NFP said it has 3,400 employees and global capabilities.

Dillon said NFP was one of nine potential buyers since the company started courting suitors about a year ago. He said NFP brings a plethora of expertise and resources to his team and clients, including employee-benefits solutions CSI didn't have.