Global re/insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has completed its previously announced acquisition of the treaty reinsurance operations of rival Willis Towers Watson (WTW).
It was announced in August that Gallagher had reached an agreement to acquire all of the treaty operations of Willis Re from its parent for an initial gross consideration of $3.25 billion.
In November, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ended its investigation into and cleared the planned acquisition, which has now completed.
Together with Gallagher’s existing reinsurance business, the combined operation will trade as Gallagher Re from over 70 offices across 31 countries and incorporate around 2,400 colleagues.
Gallagher Re will be led by James Kent as Global Reinsurance Chief Executive Officer (CEO), reporting to Tom Gallagher, who is Gallagher’s CEO of Global Property & Casualty Brokerage.
J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO, commented: “I’d like to officially welcome our new reinsurance brokerage colleagues to the Gallagher family of professionals.
“Together, we will build upon our shared focus of outstanding service, expertise and client-centric culture. I am confident the combination will deliver tremendous value to our clients, our global brokerage and risk management teams, and our shareholders.”
Gallagher says that the acquisition brings specialist expertise, underpinned by a portfolio of analytics capabilities including catastrophe modeling, dynamic financial analysis, rating agency analysis and capital modeling. The hope is that these additions will immediately provide exceptional value to insurance carriers and insurance capital providers around the world.
Kent added: “This combination marks a new chapter for two remarkable reinsurance broking teams as well as for our valued and extremely supportive clients and stakeholders. We are bringing together highly complementary and well-respected reinsurance businesses to create a truly compelling unified reinsurance platform.
“I am incredibly proud to be leading Gallagher Re into its next phase of growth.”
