Hi-Alta expands with four acquisitions (April 01, 2002)

Broker consolidator Hi-Alta has added four new offices to its Western Insurance Network (WIN), including two in Alberta, and one each in BC and Saskatchewan.

J.A. Buchan Agencies of Champion, AB, will be merged with Wes Fulton Agencies in nearby Vulcan, while Cochrane Insurance will eventually join Whittle Agencies in Cochrane, AB. The Prince George, BC, operations of Aon Reed Stenhouse will merge with Fournier Insurance Brokers, with six Aon staffers making the move. Hi-Alta also plans to open a second location in northern BC later in the spring. Finally, ISI Insurance Services Inc., which operates in Regina and Kronau, SK, has been added to the network.

Hi-Alta president Scott Tannas says the Prince George and Cochcrane acquisitions strengthen the company’s position in key cities. “Part of our comfort zone is to be number one or number two in every market that we’re in.” The others are communities in which the network wants to make inroads, by purchasing operations that are already successful there.