Amwins Group, Inc., the global distributor of specialty insurance solutions and services, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the fourth-largest U.S. wholesale brokerage, Worldwide Facilities.
Scheduled to close in April of this year, the acquisition stands to bolster Amwins’ presence in the U.S. and reinforce its position as a large and diversified specialty distribution firm.
The takeover is also expected to enhance the company’s brokerage, underwriting and binding authority and group benefits division, with notable footprint expansion anticipated on the west coast.
“The acquisition of Worldwide is a watershed moment not just for Amwins, but the specialty distribution space,” said Scott Purviance, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Amwins.
“Since the beginning, we’ve believed that scale and specialization are key to delivering for our clients. Over the last 19 years, we’ve been able to build an organization that stands out amongst the competition. With the addition of Worldwide to the Amwins family we are partnering with a very talented group of brokers and underwriters. Worldwide has a very similar culture to Amwins and has a significant employee ownership base. The combined firm will have over 1,025 employee shareholders owning 43% of the business,” he added.
Clients of Worldwide can expect a continued high level of service with access to a wider range of markets, products and tools. The Worldwide team, which is led by Davis Moore as CEO, will join the Amwins leadership team once the deal completes.
Moore commented: “We are excited to join the Amwins family and the opportunities this partnership offers. Our organizations complement each other very well from a culture and business philosophy perspective. Together, we can use our scale to continue to invest in people, technology, product and tools to deliver specialized solutions to our retail clients.”
The purchase of Worldwide adds to the firm’s strong track record of 50 previously acquired companies, with the combined firm set to have more than 6,151 employees in over 155 offices across the U.S., and place in excess of $24 billion in premium annually.
Amwins notes that its continued growth and expanded scale will enable additional investment in people, technology and analytical tools to benefit its retail clients.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Waller Helms Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor to Worldwide Facilities.
