Archive for September 2012
Real estate agents merge
http://royallepageatlantic.com/blog/news/royal-lepage-atlantic-welcomes-hayes-realty/
Royal LePage Atlantic has acquired Moncton’s HomeLife Hayes Realty. Royal LePage Atlantic says it is the largest real estate brokerage in the region, with offices in Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, New Minas, Moncton, Shediac, Sussex, Saint John and Rothesay.
Another insurance broker deal
Halifax’s Bell & Grant Insurance has sold its personal home/auto business to St. John’s-based Johnson Inc. Bell & Grant is a long-time established insurance broker while Johnson is a national broker owned by Royal & Sunalliance Insurance (part of RSA, the large UK-based insurer); Johnson has been a consolidator in the independent broker industry for some time. Last month, Bell & Grant announced that it was sold to the RSA group, as part of RSA’s dual strategy for personal (via Johnson) and commercial lines brokerages.
Bell & Grant also announced that it has a pending deal to acquire the commercial lines of Goguen Champlain Insurance in Moncton. Johnson acquired all of Goguen in 2010, and the industry has been speculating for some time when and how it would divest of the commercial lines portion of the business.
The personal lines broker industry has undergone a very high level of consolidation for many years now, but the above is reflective of a relatively new trend for those brokers focused on commercial lines, whereby the strategic acquirers (either owned or funded by the insurers) are able to consolidate an industry by paying prices that are largely unattainable from selling to other independent brokers.
Another Envirosystems acquisition
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/business/132527-envirosystems-acquires-bc-company
Dartmouth, NS-based Envirosystems has acquired BC Master Blasters of Surrey, BC, continuing the consolidation trend in the environmental services business.
Envirosystems is part of the Hennigar family group, formerly part of the Jodrey/Annapolis group of companies.
