The Hilb Group is a portfolio company of Boston-based private equity firm, Abry Partners
Richmond-based, The Hilb Group, LLC, has announced the acquisition of DBR Group, a Framingham-based employee benefit and actuarial consulting firm.
According to the terms of the transaction, effective as of October 1, 2018, DBR will continue to operate out of its Framingham location under its founding leadership team of Paul Desrosiers, Chris Bean and Jim Roche.
“Joining THG’s team will allow our clients to access a wider range of products and services to address their emerging and evolving needs,” said Paul Desrosiers. “We are excited to join THG and view this move as an excellent opportunity to build on DBR’s success over the last 14 years”
Founded in 2004, DBR Group provides a full range of benefits consulting and brokerage services to organizations of all sizes, including corporations, non-profits, Taft-Hartley funds, and public sector employers.
“Paul, Chris, and Jim have an outstanding partnership and they bring significant expertise in large group benefits to our firm,” said Ricky Spiro, CEO of THG. “I am pleased to welcome them and DBR’s talented employee benefits professionals to our team.”
This is the second Massachusetts acquisition for THG in 2018 and sixth since 2015
With the addition of DBR Group, THG has acquired another two Massachusetts-based employee benefits firms thus far in 2018 in addition to three in 2017. With this latest acquisition, the brokerage firm now has acquired seven agencies in the Commonwealth since 2015. The following is a list of the other Mass.-based agencies that the firm has acquired, along with links to Agency Checklists articles. Since we only started reporting on M&As and this agency in particular in 2016, the 2015 transaction does not have links.
- The Hilb Group Acquires BAR Insurance Brokerage of Needham (2018)
- Massachusetts’ HR Knowledge Acquired By The Hilb Group (2017)
- Massachusetts’s “Five Star” Agency, Mid-State Insurance, Purchased by THG (2017)
- The Hilb Group acquires Sapers & Wallacks (2017)
- The Hilb Group Acquires Hyannis’ Dowling & O’Neil (2016)
- Hilb Group Announces Acquisitions of Insurance Firms Gencorp and Cornerstone (2015)
THG is now a top 30 insurance agency in the United States
Formed in Richmond, Virginia in 2009, the Hilb Group has grown exponentially through targeted acquisitions in the middle market insurance brokerage space. With the addition of MSIA, the Group now has over 41 offices throughout ten states: Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
In 2015, The Hilb Group became a portfolio company of ABRY Partners, a Boston-based equity fund. ABRY invests in high-quality companies and partners with management to help build their businesses. Since its founding in 1989, ABRY has completed over $42.0 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity, mezzanine or preferred equity placements, representing investments in over 450 properties.
ABRY concentrates on industry sectors where they have substantial operating and investment experience and seeks to bring their industry insight to the investment process to understand key issues, accurately assess opportunity, and bring relevant information to bear. ABRY seeks to partner with skilled executives and invest significant capital to help build stronger companies that become industry leaders.