AJ Gallagher

The AJ Gallagher CEO said rate increases are providing tailwinds while the M&A pipeline remains strong.

The CEO said that his company was ‘wide open’ to absorbing additional assets to satisfy regulators’ concerns.

The intermediary focuses on underwriting and placing property, casualty and errors and omissions coverage.

An executive reshuffle at Hesse & Partner will follow Gallagher’s acquisition of all remaining shares in the Swiss broker.

Brokers’ first-quarter performance was highly positive, but the real rewards are still to come.

The merging brokers have also agreed a two-year non-compete agreement on transferring Willis business.

The transaction is a sign that the mega-deal to buy $3.6bn of assets from Willis Towers Watson has not slowed down AJG’s bolt-on acquisitions strategy.

With the planned disposal of a further $240mn of Ebitda, the parties are showing their commitment to closing the overall deal.

The executive will be based in Chicago and previously worked at Aon and Marsh.

The transaction accelerates Gallagher’s evolution into a big global broker and risk management consultant.

The CEO says the $3.6bn transaction accelerates AJG's European strategy by five years.

The $3.57bn side deal is contingent on the closing of the bigger merger, which itself needs approval from regulators including the European Commission and Department of Justice.