(Bloomberg) --Arthur J. Gallagher & Co agreed to acquire insurance broker AssuredPartners in a $13.45 billion deal, its largest-ever acquisition.
Gallagher — which intends to finance the deal with a combination of debt and equity — announced an $8.5 billion common stock offering to fund the acquisition.
The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter, Gallagher said in a statement Monday.
The transaction will expand Rolling Meadows, Illinois-based Gallagher's focus on middle-market property and casualty insurance, as well as employee benefits, in the US. It also allows it to grow its teams in the UK and Ireland, and it will broaden its offerings in a number of niche practice groups such as transportation, energy, health care and government contractors.
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"AssuredPartners' entrepreneurial spirit, broad US footprint and middle-market focus make them an ideal merger partner," Chief Executive Officer J. Patrick Gallagher said in the statement.
Gallagher shares remained little changed in early trading, falling 0.62% to $294.88 at 10:07 a.m. in New York.
What Bloomberg Intelligence says:
Gallagher is well positioned to integrate AssuredPartners following the $13.45 billion acquisition given its experience in both large and tuck-in deals. Assured's middle-market focus is attractive and large brokers have targeted this segment. Financially, the deal appears to have been struck at a lower valuation than Aon's purchase of NFP, and Gallagher estimates 10-12% accretion to trailing EPS. — Matthew Palazola and Eric BedellUS brokers are continuing to expand their operations via mergers and acquisitions, recently making bolder, bigger moves.
The deal, valued at about $12.45 billion after taking into account $1 billion in deferred tax assets, is Gallagher's largest-ever, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
In September, Marsh McLennan
