Marsh finishes selling HSBC firms to RK Harrison

Marsh has finished selling four firms in its Gibbs Hartley Cooper (GHC) division to Lloyd’s broker RK Harrison for an undisclosed sum.

The sale was announced last month.

The businesses being sold comprise all of GHC’s specie and cargo practices and most of its North America property/ casualty and accident, health and contingency practices.

These businesses became part of Marsh in 2010 after it bought HSBC Insurance Brokers. They in turn became part of a unit that was rebranded Gibbs Hartley Cooper.

The sale follows the completion of a strategic review, after which GHC has decided to focus on providing wholesale services to third parties and Marsh’s UK businesses, managing underwriting service platforms, and creating capacity for managing general underwriters.

RK Harrison chief executive Paul Bridgwater said: “We welcome four teams with outstanding expertise, solid client bases and great growth potential. The teams are accretive to existing R K Harrison specialty lines businesses and expand the scale and scope of our core offering to clients.

“The focus for both Marsh and RKH has been on providing a smooth transition for the staff, clients and their insurance contracts. It gives the deal great integrity and the attention to detail during negotiations will help give the new teams a flying start with us.”