Gallagher snaps up Barbon's property and commercial book

Arthur Gallagher has snapped up four of the Barbon brands - Deacon, Farr, Cadogan Keelan Westall and Keelan Westall.

Gallagher’s managing general agency, OIM, also bought Barbon’s underwriting arm Zennor Limited.

David Ross, chief executive of Gallagher International said: “This is a truly significant deal for us. Since our purchase of Heath Lambert in 2011, we have worked hard to enhance our distribution platform in the UK retail market.

“We made selective acquisitions in 2012, of IDL, Intasure, Acumus and Contego – and now a unique opportunity has presented itself within Barbon.

“Its property and commercial businesses are highly complementary to our current operations, adding depth and breadth to our existing network and providing further opportunity for our claims third party administrator Gallagher Bassett.

“We have a tight focus on managing our markets - selecting fields we want to lead - while providing a full service offering to clients and underwriters.

“This deal fits perfectly into our strategy and structure and we’re planning a national roll-out of Barbon’s property products, to drive our regional network growth strategy.

“We’ll inject our domain expertise into the mix and, with the support of our clients and our markets, ensure these businesses remain undisputed leaders in their field while expanding their reach.”

Mark Armitage, who will be joining from Barbon as director of mergers and acquisitions, said: “This is a game-changing deal for the UK retail market.

“Our property and commercial businesses will benefit enormously from access to the Gallagher platform and its robust growth strategy.”

A Barbon spokesman said that the firm was now concentrating entirely on its lettings arm, made up of HomeLet, Letsure and Rentshield.

Barbon chief executive Mike Ramsey said: “We are delighted that property & commercial and Zennor have been acquired by AJG, who will prove to be an excellent fit for the businesses and their employees. We can now concentrate on developing the lettings business, which is already a market leader in a growing industry.

“AJ Gallagher is a key player in its market and, from a Barbon perspective, is the right buyer, which was always a key objective in the transaction.”