BMB Merry of Arkansas sold to large global broker

Bowen, Miclette, Britt & Merry of Arkansas has been sold to Itasca, Ill.-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a global insurance brokerage and risk management with operations in 15 countries.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, according to a late Thursday (June 17) statement from Gallagher.

The Arkansas operation was a joint operation of Houston-based Bowen, Miclette & Britt Insurance and Fort Smith businessman Philip Merry Jr.

Merry, who will become a member of the Fort Smith board of directors (Position 7, at large) in January, said the change in ownership will not impact his upcoming public service role.

“It’s a wonderful thing for my firm and my clients,” Merry told The City Wire. “I’m excited that I can do both the city director work and engineer a presence in the state of Arkansas for Arthur J. Gallagher, the fourth-largest insurance broker in the world.”

According to the Gallagher release, Merry’s division is a “retail insurance broker offering risk management and insurance products and services to their clients primarily in Arkansas and Oklahoma. They specialize in the healthcare, manufacturing, retail and poultry processing industries.” Gallagher said Merry and his staff will maintain the Fort Smith office under the direction of Mitchel Brashier, the company’s southeastern regional manager.

The Gallagher statement quoted J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., chairman, president and CEO, as noting: "These talented professionals have an excellent reputation for their dedication to quality client service. … Their decades of industry experience and solid sales culture will be a terrific addition to our Southeastern Region. We look forward to working with Philip and his associates and welcome them to our growing Gallagher family of professionals."

Gallagher was founded October 1927 in Chicago and became the world’s fourth-largest insurance broker in 1998 with annual revenue topping $500 million.

The publicly held company has been on a buying spree. In addition to BMB Merry, the company purchased Dublin, Ohio-based Joseph James & Associates on June 2; purchased the Risk & Reward Group of London, England, on June 1; on April 7 announced the completion of the acquisition of FirstCity Partnership of London, England; and on Feb. 16 announced the purchase of Securitas Re of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

First quarter 2010 net income for the company was $29.2 million, compared to $26.4 million for the 2009 period. For all of 2009, the company earned $128.6 million on total revenue of $1.729 billion.

Gallagher’s shares (NYSE: AJG) closed Thursday at $25.67, down 5 cents. During the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged from a $27 high to a $20.20 low.