Cox Insurance Holdings has acquired high street broker Bennetts UK Limited for £4.475m, including £2.8m of debt.
The Worcester-based broker's 20 branches will now be added to Cox's 21-strong insure-shop network, which will create the sixth largest high street broking company in the UK.
The combined network will have more than 117,000 policyholders with joint gross written premiums in excess of £44m.
The consideration will be made up of £1.35m in cash and £3.12m in new Cox shares. Application has already been made to the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange for a listing of 3,851,110 ordinary shares of 10p each of Cox Insurance Holdings to be admitted to the official list of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the stock exchange.
The shares will be of exactly equal value in all respects to existing issued ordinary shares in the company.
Cox chief executive Neil Utley said: "The acquisition of Bennetts demonstrates our intention to grow successful broking division and our branch network in particular. It has doubled the size of our network and significantly increased our geographic footprint, making us a major high street broker."
