Jones Brown acquired by large international brokerage

Canadian brokerage Jones Brown Inc. has been acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Itasca, Ill.-based Gallagher announced Tuesday.

Jones Brown, which places both commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, has offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Hamilton.

“The Jones Brown team will continue to operate from their existing locations under the direction of Steve Bryant, president of Gallagher’s Canadian retail property/casualty brokerage operations,” Gallagher said in a release.

Gallagher did not release the terms of the deal.

Gallagher was the fourth largest brokerage internationally, Finaccord Ltd. reported earlier. Finaccord ranked brokerages by commercial non-life broking in 2015. Ranking first, second and third were Aon, Marsh and Willis respectively. Those rankings were done before Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. acquired Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc.

Gallagher reported in a securities filing this past February it had 35 locations in Canada.

Other Canadian companies acquired by Gallagher include Palmer Atlantic, a New Brunswick brokerage specializing in trucking.

Gallagher earlier acquired other Canadian brokerages including Stevenson & Hunt and CG&B Group.

About a dollar of every $30 of Gallagher’s insurance commissions come from Canada. In addition to Canada and the United States, Gallagher also has operations in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda and the Caribbean. In its annual report, released in February of 2018, Gallagher  reported US$4.6 billion in brokerages and risk revenue in 2017. Of that, 3%, or US$155.4 million, came from Canada. In 2016, Gallagher earned US$138.2 million in commissions from Canada.

Outside of P&C, Gallagher announced this past July it acquired Winnipeg-based Belton Boisselle Ltd., whose offerings include group benefits and retirement.

Jones Brown brings Gallagher “complementary expertise, new geographies and a similar company culture,” J. Patrick Gallagher Jr. (chairman, CEO and president) stated Tuesday in a release.

Jones Brown’s practices include property, auto, directors and officers liability, marine, aviation and surety among others.

Jones Brown announced this past June it will place insurance covering cannabis risk, including product liability, management liability, physical assets, inventory loss including crop contamination and business interruption.