Anthony Clark buys second U.S. brokerage; faces $500,000 judgement in civil case

It was a case of good news and bad news for Calgary-based Anthony Clark International Insurance Brokers Ltd. this week. The company announced it has purchased its second brokerage in the U.S., but in other news, it faces a $515,000 judgement against the company for a stock deal gone bad.James Bonifiglio was awarded the $515,000 judgement for Anthony Clark’s failure to honor a stock option agreement from October, 1998. The broker says it plans to appeal the decision, but that the judgement should not affect its acquisition strategy in any way.On the bright side, the company says its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary Addison York Insurance Brokers Ltd. acquired fixed assets and customer accounts of Los Angeles-based Johns Insurance Agency.The deal was made for an undisclosed amount of cash, seller and new senior debt financing, the company says. Johns Agency president, Jeff Johns, will stay on to lead the operation. As part of the deal, Anthony Clark has terminated its revolving credit line with Textron Financial Corp. in favor of what it calls a more flexible credit facility with Paragon Capital Corp. Ltd., which allowed the company to make the Johns Agency purchase.This follows on the heels of Anthony’s Clark first U.S. agency purchase, Vista International Insurance Brokers, last month. Combined, the two U.S. acquisitions are expected to generate $5.8 million in additional revenue annually for Anthony Clark, more than doubling the company’s annual revenue.