(Reuters) -Hub International, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, said on Monday it has secured a $29 billion valuation after securing a minority investment of about $1.6 billion
The investment is led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Alpha Wave Global, and Temasek, with participation from other investors.
The company’s valuation has increased from $23 billion in 2023, when private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners (LGP) made a minority investment.
Such minority investment deals allow buyout firms to retain their portfolio companies longer while providing liquidity to existing shareholders and broadening the investor base.
Hub adopts a strategy common in many partnerships between private equity and insurance players.
With access to capital from well-funded private firms, the company has completed several “roll-up” acquisitions to consolidate its presence in a fragmented market.
As part of the LGP deal, Hub had committed to regularly providing liquidity to existing shareholders through so-called liquid private placements.
Formed in 1998 by merging eleven Canadian brokerages, the insurance brokerage listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1999 and the New York Stock Exchange in 2002.
In 2007, Apax Partners and Morgan Stanley Principal Investments took it private for $1.7 billion. Its valuation has surged more than six-fold since Hellman and Friedman’s (H&F) $4.4 billion acquisition in 2013.
Chicago, Illinois-based Hub has over 19,000 employees globally and 650 offices across North America, according to the company’s website. It generated $4.8 billion in revenue in 2024.
H&F will retain a controlling interest in Hub. Buyout firms Altas Partners and LGP will remain minority shareholders.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised Hub on the transaction.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil, Pritam Biswas, and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
