Both Eastern Insurance and Salem Five acquired agencies this month
In a further sign of the increasing consolidation in the local independent insurance agency marketplace, two local banks, Salem Five and Eastern Insurance, both announced the further expansion of their insurance agency divisions with recent agency acquisitions this month.
Eastern Insurance is the largest insurance agency in Massachusetts
Natick-based Eastern Insurance announced this week that it has acquired the employee benefits firm, BBS Employee Benefits. A full service employee benefits firm based in Newton, BBS was founded in 2002 by Frederick W. Colman, Jr.
“We are excited to welcome BBS Employee Benefits’ employees and customers to the Eastern Insurance family,” said Hope A. Aldrich, President and CEO of Eastern Insurance. “BBS Employee Benefits has an excellent reputation for superior customer service and products, making it a perfect cultural fit for our organization.”
As the largest insurance agency in Massachusetts, this latest acquisition further expands the Eastern Insurance footprint into Newton and the greater Boston area.
“Boston is at the center of the many markets that we now serve, so this was an attractive opportunity to partner with a successful agency with an excellent reputation in the financial community and group benefits space,” added Aldrich.
“The agreement [also] provides new Eastern Insurance customers with access to a broader range of benefits services and capabilities,” added Matthew F. Shadrick, Eastern Benefits Group’s Practice Leader and an Executive Vice President at Eastern Insurance.
According to the terms of the transaction, all BBS Employee Benefits employees will continue on after the completed merger as Eastern Insurance employees. All of the former BBS employees will continue to serve in their same capacities as they had at BBS in order to ensure continuity and a continued level of high server to former BBS clients. As for the current BBS Employee Benefits office, however, it will relocate and merge into the Easter Insurance headquarters located at 223 West Central Street in Natick.
“We are proud of what we have built in providing the best group benefits insurance plans for employers and their employees,” said Mr. Colman. “We believe that the choice of Eastern Insurance will serve our clients and employees extremely well with their ability to provide elevated resources and services.”
Salem Five snaps up Lexington Agency
For its part, Salem Five Bank announced on May 10th that it had acquired the Otis Brown Insurance Agency of Lexington.
The Otis Brown Insurance Agency was founded in Lexington in 1953 by Otis Brown. In 1960, Richard Beamon joined the agency creating a partnership with Mr. Brown. In 1991, Mr. Beamon’s son bought out Mr. Brown’s share thereby transferring total ownership of the agency to the Beamon family. Since 1999, the agency has been owned and operated by the Mr. Beamons son’s Rick and Greg.
Upon the sale of the agency, all of the insurance agency’s employees will be welcomed into the Salem Five’s Five Star Designated agency.
