Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA), the middle market agency subsidiary of Marsh, has agreed to acquire West Point, Ga.-based J. Smith Lanier & Co., one of the nation’s largest, privately held insurance brokerage firms.
Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, were not disclosed.
Founded in 1868, J. Smith Lanier sells insurance, risk management and employee benefits. The agency has total annual revenue of approximately $130 million and 600 employees in 21 offices across Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida.
Smith Lanier ranked No. 21 on Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Independent Agencies list in 2016, a list that ranks firms by total property/casualty agency revenue for 2015 and includes only those agencies whose business is primarily retail, not wholesale.
Upon completion of the transaction, JSL will operate as MMA’s Southeast regional hub under the leadership of J. Smith Lanier’s chief executive, D. Gaines Lanier, and chief operating officer, Gary Ivey. Lanier will report to David Eslick, chairman and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Agency. All of JSL’s employees will join MMA.
MMA is a subsidiary of Marsh established in 2008 to serve as a platform for the middle market. In 2015, it expanded its national footprint into Canada.
Source: Marsh