JLT completes HSBC Insurance Brokers deal

JLT has acquired HSBC Actuaries and Consultants Limited (HACL), a UK employee benefits and actuarial consulting firm.

HACL has been purchased from HSBC Insurance Brokers for £27.25m, subject to an adjustment for surplus net assets on completion.

The acquisition comes just weeks after Insurance Times revealed that Marsh is set to snap up HSBC Insurance Brokers (see: Marsh eyes HSBC Insurance Brokers). It is not yet know what effect the purchase will have on the Marsh talks but sources have suggested it could pave the way for a future deal.

In the year ended 31 December 2008, HACL’s reported revenues were £40.1m, generating an operating profit of £2.8m.

The gross assets of HACL at completion are estimated at approximately £19m.

Employing some 440 staff, HACL operates across six practice areas: Trustee Consultancy; Corporate Consultancy; Administration Services; Defined Contribution Consultancy; Investment Consultancy; and, Health and Risk Consultancy.

JLT's existing Employee Benefits business employs approximately 1000 staff and generated revenues of £87.6m and an operating profit of £14.9m in 2008.

JLT chief executive Dominic Burke said: "HACL is a highly respected participant in the UK employee benefits market place, with both a strong business in its own right and an excellent relationship with the bank and its clients that we are confident will continue.

“The acquisition fits squarely with our stated strategy of bolt-on acquisitions and adds substantially to a core component of the JLT Group. It is a complementary deal, playing to our strengths and adding capabilities in important professional fields.

“The combination of HACL with our UK employee benefits business creates many exciting opportunities for growth and improved financial performance that have already been identified by the two management teams working together.

“This transaction underlines our confidence in our EB business, despite the impact of the current challenging economic conditions on the sector, and our determination that it should grow as a strategically central component of the JLT Group, in the UK and internationally."