The Baldwin Insurance Group announced Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire specialty and middle-market brokerage CAC Group in a transaction valued at $1.026 billion.
The deal is expected to create one of the largest independent insurance advisory and distribution platforms in the U.S., according to a joint statement.
Denver-based CAC is the 35th-largest brokerage of U.S. business, with $282.4 million in 2024 U.S. brokerage revenue, according to Business Insurance’s latest ranking.
Privately held CAC would add about 650 staff to publicly traded Baldwin, bringing the combined firms’ total to nearly 5,000 employees, with clients across retail, specialty, reinsurance and MGA platforms.
By 2026 the combined company is expected to generate over $2 billion in gross revenue and more than $470 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter.
Under the deal, Baldwin will acquire CAC by paying a total upfront consideration of $1.026 billion, made up of $438 million in cash and 23.2 million shares of Baldwin common stock valued at $589 million based on the 30-day volume-weighted average price as of Dec. 1. That implies a multiple of 7.9 times 2025 expected pro forma adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization including anticipated run-rate synergies, the companies said.
The agreement also includes a performance-based earnout of up to $250 million and a $70 million deferred payment.
The combination significantly expands Baldwin’s specialty capabilities within its Insurance Advisory Solutions segment by integrating CAC’s expertise in natural resources, private equity, real estate, senior living, education, construction, financial lines, transactional liability, cyber and surety.
CAC’s data and analytics platform will be added to Baldwin’s middle-market distribution platform. The combined platform will leverage Baldwin’s reinsurance, MGA operations and proprietary technology.
“This combination brings together two highly complementary firms, aligned in culture and values, yet distinct in expertise, business mix, and geographic footprint,” Baldwin CEO Trevor Baldwin said in the statement.
Tampa, Florida-based Baldwin is the 15th-largest brokerage of U.S. business, with $1.39 billion in 2024 U.S. brokerage revenue, according to Business Insurance’s latest ranking.
Mr. Baldwin said in a recent interview that the company would resume M&A as it seeks to become a top 10 U.S. broker by 2029. The brokerage, which completed 35 acquisitions in the 2½ years after its 2019 initial public offering, largely suspended deal activity after its 2022 purchase of Westwood Insurance Agency for $385 million.
The Baldwin-CAC deal is the latest in a series of broker consolidations, including Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s recently completed $13.45 billion acquisition of AssuredPartners and Brown & Brown’s $9.83 billion purchase of Accession Risk Management Group, the parent company of Risk Strategies and One80 Intermediaries. Last year, Aon bought NFP for $13 billion and Marsh bought McGriff for $7.75 billion.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.