UK intermediary Ardonagh Group has announced the establishment of its new Dublin-based arm, Ardonagh Europe, as the firm looks to take its buy-and-build model to the continent.
The new division will form part of the Ardonagh International segment and will operate alongside Ardonagh Global Partners, which launched back in April under the leadership of Des O’Connor.
Ardonagh Europe will be led by Conor Brennan, who will continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arachas, Ireland’s largest and fastest growing specialist corporate broker, which joined Ardonagh in 2020.
Since joining Ardonagh, Arachas has gone on to make numerous acquisitions, and earlier in July, announced the launch of the Ardonagh Global Data and Risk Management Centre in Mullingar, Ireland, as well as the creation of 60 data science and analysis roles.
Prior to Arachas, where Brennan has served as CEO since May 2018, he held a number of roles at global insurer Zurich including head of general insurance and CEO of general insurance in Ireland.
Under his leadership, Ardonagh Europe will replicate Arachas’ model across Europe, acquiring platform businesses and then building organically or via bolt-on acquisitions.
The Ardonagh Europe team is bolstered by the additional appointments of Maria Cospito as Chief Commercial Officer, and Colin O’Reilly as Chief Acquisitions Officer.
Cospito most recently served as head of Navigators & General at Zurich, while O’Reilly joins the broker from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
The company has also revealed that John McCarthy, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Arachas, will assume the additional responsibilities as CFO of Ardonagh Europe.
David Ross, CEO of Ardonagh Group, commented: “The launch today of Ardonagh Europe signals our continued focus on increasing our global footprint. We have spent the last twelve months building a meaningful pipeline in geographies which present us with significant complementary opportunities.
“Almost a year to the day since we acquired Arachas, we are poised to execute on our campaign in Europe, with Conor and his newly formed team perfectly positioned to establish themselves as the partner of choice for extraordinary businesses.”
Brennan added: “Ardonagh has a special culture and a unique strategy to acquire and invest in brokerages, MGAs, and strategically significant service providers while retaining and empowering leaders. We have established a strong pipeline of acquisitions; making them a reality is a dream job.”
