MarshBerry remains the number one sell side advisor for the 22nd year in a row and retains the top spot in the industry for total number of clients advised.1 The firm closed transactions representing sell side clients with more than 72 different buyers over the past five years, more than any other active advisor. What makes this feat even more incredible is it was achieved when economies across the globe nearly came to a standstill in Q2 due to COVID-19. However, merger & acquisition (M&A) activity regained its traction and continued at the ravenous pace that was originally anticipated for 2020.
“As the industry’s leading investment banker and strategic advisor for insurance firms in the U.S. and abroad, it’s more than just the volume of transactions. Our team of value creation architects are dedicated to working with our clients to help them embrace meaningful, and sometimes, painful change in order to grow their business, optimize their value and determine their future,” said John Wepler, MarshBerry Chairman & CEO.
With a full suite of solutions, the firm provides Merger & Acquisition Advisory, Business & Perpetuation Planning and Valuations and Debt and Equity Raising services. When considering a transaction, MarshBerry distinguishes itself on leveraging its proprietary approach to identifying the best overall fit for clients.
Based on year-end data, there have been 676 M&A transactions announced in the United States. The reported deal count indicates a 4.32% increase over 2019, which consisted of 648 announced transactions. It is worth noting that the announced 676 transactions de facto occurred in only ten months, as M&A activity was at a virtual stand-still for April and May.2
“In what was a challenging year, MarshBerry was proud to continue to serve our clientele,” said Phil Trem, MarshBerry President – Financial Advisory. “With hindsight being 20/20, it’s amazing to look back and see how agile our team members were to adjust to the circumstances and how our clients pivoted to integrate new processes and procedures to help them continue their momentum and create value for their partners and clients.”
About MarshBerry
Founded in 1981, MarshBerry serves the insurance brokerage industry, including insurance agents & brokers, specialty distributors, private equity firms, banks & credit unions and insurance carriers. MarshBerry’s industry-specific services help clients build, enhance and sustain value through: Market Intelligence & Benchmarking, Organic Growth Consulting, Connect – Executive Peer Exchange Network, Connect Platform – Enterprise Value Accelerator, Merger & Acquisition Advisory*, Debt & Equity Capital Raising, and Financial Consulting. Learn more at www.MarshBerry.com.
1Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, data pulled as of January 31, 2021; showing the top six advisors with the largest number of deals in 2020. “Clients Advised” represents the number of different buyers or sellers advised during 2020.
2Annual 2020 count as of January 21, 2021. Subsequent announcements may affect 2020 totals in future publications. All transactions are announced deals involving public companies, private equity backed brokers, private companies, banks as well as others including private equity groups, underwriters, specialty lenders, etc. All targets are U.S. only. This data displays a snapshot at a particular point in time and has not necessarily been updated to reflect subsequent changes in prior years, if any. MarshBerry estimates that historically, a low percentage of transactions were publicly announced, but we believe that this has risen to over 50% today. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Journal and other publicly available sources.