GRAND RAPIDS — Acrisure LLC has closed on a $3.4 billion capital raise, most of which came from the sale of senior preferred stocks to a consortium of investors.
Already one of the largest and fastest-growing insurance brokerages, Grand Rapids-based Acrisure will use the capital to support further growth and technology investments.
Of the capital raised, $3 billion came from the sale of senior preferred shares to an investment consortium led by Chicago merchant banker BDT Capital Partners. The investment “has aligned the capital structure to support the company’s long-term objectives and further supports Acrisure to continue its trajectory as the industry’s fastest-growing broker,” according to an announcement today on the investment.
Acrisure raised another $454 million through the sale of junior preferred shares to a consortium of investors.
“These transactions are a clear reflection of how the market is valuing both the strength of our existing insurance brokerage business and, importantly, our vision for accelerating our technology initiatives going forward,” said Acrisure co-founder, President and CEO Greg Williams. “These investments enable us to pursue strategic initiatives with aligned capital that will provide greater value for all shareholders.”
Varnum LLP in Grand Rapids and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York City served as legal co-counsel to Acrisure.
“Acrisure is an innovative leader in an attractive industry with a very strong management team led by Co-Founder Greg Williams,” Byron Trott, the founder, chairman and CEO of BDT Capital Partners, said in a statement. “We look forward to a long-term partnership with Greg and his team, consistent with our business model of providing patient capital to founder and family-led businesses, while leveraging our network of closely held business owners and investors to support the company’s growth and expansion.”
Acrisure — with $2.1 billion in revenue in 2020 — has nearly 600 offices worldwide and for years has grown rapidly through an aggressive acquisition strategy. The company last year made 110 acquisitions.
The company for years has by far been the largest acquirer of independent insurance agencies in the U.S, closing on 464 acquisitions from 2016 to 2020, according to Optis Partners LLC, a Chicago firm that tracks M&A in the insurance industry.
Acrisure in 2020 bought the insurance practice Tulco LLC, a Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence company. The transaction, valued at $400 million, provided Acrisure the A.I. and machine-learning technology capabilities that Williams previously told MiBiz “singularly transforms every facet of our business.”
“Based on our data, AI foundation, and global distribution capabilities, we will accelerate our growth in the insurance brokerage industry and into adjacent opportunities,” he said in today’s announcement of the latest capital raise.
