Insurance agency mergers and acquisitions slowed in 2025 as the number of buyers continued to shrink, signalling deeper industry consolidation, according to a new report from OPTIS Partners, a Minneapolis-based investment banking and financial consulting firm.
Firms announced 695 insurance agency mergers and acquisitions in 2025, down 12% from 2024, the OPTIS Partners database showed. The decline marked the third consecutive year without a year-end rush to close deals.
“The story of 2025 is more like that of 2019 than any year since then,” said Steve Germundson, a partner at OPTIS Partners. “Similarities include an annual deal pace between 650 and 700 and a relatively even distribution of deals throughout the year.”
Private equity-backed and hybrid buyers dominated the market, accounting for 73% of all acquisitions. However, this group announced 11% fewer deals than the previous year. Privately held brokers reported 9% fewer acquisitions, while publicly traded brokers recorded a 27% decline in deals.
BroadStreet Partners, a private equity and hybrid broker, led buyers with 69 acquisitions, down from 90 in 2024. Hub International followed with 49 deals, compared with 61 a year earlier, and Inszone Insurance Services completed 45 transactions, down from 48. Leavitt Group was the only privately held broker in the top 10, announcing 29 deals in 2025.
Major transactions included Arthur J. Gallagher’s acquisition of San Francisco-based Woodruff Sawyer and Assured Partners of Daytona Beach, Fla. Brown & Brown bought Boston-based Accession Risk Management, while The Baldwin Group purchased Denver- and Birmingham-based CAC Group.
The number of unique buyers totalled 95, a 9% decrease from 104 in 2024, reflecting ongoing consolidation across the sector.
Property and casualty insurance agency sellers accounted for 455 of the 695 transactions, or 66%. Employee benefits specialists represented 13% of deals, while agencies selling both property and casualty and employee benefits insurance accounted for 9%.
“We expect more large deals and recapitalizations in 2026 as the chase for scale continues,” said Tim Cunningham, managing partner at OPTIS Partners. “This will continue to benefit the better sellers, whose valuations should remain at their current heady levels, absent a major change in the underlying economy or the insurance marketplace.”
