Clairvest Group Inc. completed the sale of its stake in Acera Insurance Services Ltd. through a merger with Navacord Corp., receiving approximately $407 million in gross proceeds, the private equity firm announced Monday.
The transaction closed following all required regulatory, court and shareholder approvals, marking the completion of a previously announced merger.
Clairvest Group Inc. and Clairvest Equity Partners VI fully exited their investment in Acera as part of the deal. The firm received 80% of the proceeds in cash and 20% in a promissory note payable over 24 months. Clairvest Group’s portion of the total proceeds totalled $110 million.
Acera CEO Lee Rogers, chairman and EVP Andrew Kemp, the executive team, and employee shareholders rolled a significant portion of their equity into the combined entity, according to a news release.
Navacord and Acera will operate under a unified platform with more than 5,000 insurance and financial services professionals across more than 150 locations nationwide. The merged organisation represents approximately $7.2 billion in insurance and employee benefits premium and about $7.5 billion in retirement assets under management, making it one of Canada’s largest privately held insurance, employee benefits, and wealth advisory firms.
As part of the integration, Rogers and Kemp have been appointed vice chairs of Navacord and will remain actively involved in the business. Acera Insurance is expected to formally operate under the Navacord banner effective Nov. 1, 2026.
The sale is expected to have a positive impact on Clairvest’s book value per share of approximately $4 relative to the carrying value as of Sept. 30, 2025.
Clairvest, founded in 1987, manages more than $4.3 billion in capital and invests through the Clairvest Equity Partners limited partnerships.
The merger reflects broader M&A trends in the Canadian and North American insurance brokerage sector. Before closing, analysts highlighted a moderately active insurance M&A market in 2025, with about 520 agency and brokerage deals announced in Canada and the US, a slight year-over-year decline.
Strategic combinations like Navacord and Acera were seen as responses to higher valuations and the need for scale and specialization. Regional and mid‑market brokers are merging to compete with larger national and multinational firms. Scale enables better negotiation with insurers, investment in technology, and the delivery of more complex employee benefits and wealth management services.
