Arthur J Gallagher & Co, an Illinois-based insurance brokerage and risk management services firm, is gearing up to acquire Bollinger, a New Jersey-based brokerage firm with over $100m in revenue.
Sources close to the deal were quoted by Businessinsurance.com as saying that the acquirer is likely to pay a purchase price of nearly $270m or more to acquire the commercial broker.
For the last two decades, Arthur J Gallagher & Co has expanded its business footprint in many regions through small acquisitions.
Most recently, the company purchased Garza Long Group (GLG), which is based in Weslaco, Texas, as well as UK-based Property & Commercial Limited from Barbon Insurance Group, in a bid to further strengthen its operation in the country.
If the proposed transaction finalises, it would be a major acquisition for Arthur next to the $158m takeover of UK-based brokerage HLG Holdings, which helped it to enter into Britain's retail insurance market.
During 2012, Arthur J Gallagher purchased 60 companies with an aggregate of $231m in annual revenue.
The company registered a revenue of $2.5bn in 2012, with an increase of 18% compared to $2.1bn, while net income stood at $195m, or $1.59 per share, up 35% from $144m, or $1.28 per share, during 2011.
