Genstar Capital Announces Acquisition of Acrisure

SAN FRANCISCO, March 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Genstar Capital, LLC, a middle market private equity firm that focuses on investments in selected segments of the insurance and financial services, software, life sciences, healthcare, and industrial technology industries, today announced the acquisition of Acrisure, a leading retail insurance brokerage organization.

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Acrisure is the 50^th largest privately owned insurance agency in the United States whose product lines include property & casualty, employee benefits and related third party administrator services, human resource outsourcing, loss & claims management, surety bonding and personal lines coverage.  The company was co-founded in 2005 by CEO Greg Williams to acquire independent insurance agencies across the Midwest and since then has completed 26 acquisitions.

Mr. Williams, said, "I am pleased to be partnering with the team at Genstar who bring a proven track record of growing and building a company like ours in the insurance industry.  We have a shared vision to continue Acrisure's growth both organically and through strategic acquisitions and Genstar is the ideal partner who brings additional resources and valuable expertise as we acquire strategic add-on opportunities and accelerate the growth of the Acrisure portfolio."

J. Ryan Clark, a Managing Director at Genstar, as well as Tony Salewski and David Golde of Genstar will join the Acrisure Board of Directors.  In addition, John Addeo, retired CEO of Genstar's former portfolio company, Confie Seguros, will also join the Acrisure Board.

Mr. Clark, said, "Greg is a highly successful and capable leader who has built Acrisure into one of the leading insurance agencies in the Midwest. We were attracted by the company's historically strong performance, both organically and through acquisitions, its broad set of capabilities, and the high quality of the management team and local agency partners.  By working with Greg and his team we believe we have an opportunity to leverage Genstar's extensive insurance executive network to accelerate growth and expand the company's footprint nationally."

Genstar pursued a similar growth strategy with its former portfolio company Confie Seguros, which Genstar helped build into the pre-eminent national insurance distribution company primarily focused on the needs of Hispanic consumers.  Genstar partnered with John Addeo and other leading insurance industry executives in 2008 to establish Confie Seguros and grew the company to over 300 retail locations with annual revenues approaching $200 million by 2012. Significant value was created through a robust acquisition program (38 add-on acquisitions under Genstar ownership), organic EBITDA growth and cash flow generation.  Genstar completed a successful sale of Confie Seguros in November 2012.

Jean-Pierre L. Conte, Managing Director and Chairman of Genstar, said, "Genstar continues to expand and deepen its commitment to the financial services vertical.  We have a reputation for executing innovative transactions across a wide spectrum of the financial services sector by partnering with high-quality management teams in businesses that exhibit attractive growth opportunities.  Combined with our strong relationships with industry experts, which can be invaluable for management teams as they look to expand their businesses and execute on strategic objectives, we make long-term capital investments and provide our expertise to support the strategic and financial objectives of the companies in which we invest."

The firm's current investments in the insurance and financial services sector include Innovative Aftermarket Systems, a premier marketer, administrator and underwriter of vehicle protection products and related services sold through automobile dealers; Insurity, a provider of core insurance processing software and services; Granite Global Solutions, a leading Canadian provider of risk mitigation services to insurance and corporate clients; MidCap Financial, a commercial finance firm focused on providing debt solutions to middle-market healthcare companies; and 21^st Services, a provider of life expectancy estimates and portfolio servicing for the life settlement market.

AcquiGrowth Capital advised Genstar and Dowling Hales advised Acrisure on the transaction.

About Genstar Capital, LLC

Genstar Capital (www.gencap.com) is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for more than 20 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of operating executives and strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar has more than $4 billion of committed capital under management and targets investments focused on selected sectors within the life science, healthcare services, software and software services, insurance and financial services, and industrial technology industries.

Contact: Chris Tofalli
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914-834-4334

SOURCE Genstar Capital, LLC