Broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson has bolstered its mergers and acquisitions team as it looks for buys to grow its business, according to chief executive Dominic Burke.

Speaking to press about JLT’s first-half results this afternoon, Burke said: “There is no part of our business that is not open for growth or acquisitions activity. We have recruited a greater resource in our corporate finance department and they are very busy at this time. We look forward to hearing more news from them in the coming months.”

Burke said that acquisitions are a key part of JLT’s strategy, and the broker would look for bolt-on rather than transformational deals.

"We have the firepower, we have the balance sheet and we have the pipeline,” Burke said. “We are very active in our pipeline around acquisitions internationally as well as here in the UK and the London market. We will see how they fare.”

Burke was unequivocal about JLT’s own position as a potential takeover target. Responding to repeated rumours that Aon is looking to buy the firm, Burke said: “This organisation is not for sale to Aon. It’s not for sale to anybody.

"I think our shareholders are delighted with what has been achieved with this management team, and I don’t think there is an acquisition that makes any sense where JLT would be not the leader.”

JLT made a pre-tax profit of £76.4m in the first half of this year, up 9% on the £70m it made in the same period last year.

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