BGC Partners to acquire Ed Broking Group

London-based reinsurance, wholesale and specialty broker Ed is to be acquired by BGC Partners, a global brokerage and financial technology company.

Under the agreement, a subsidiary of BGC will acquire 100 percent of Ed Broking Group, which includes operations in the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Miami and China, as well as its German marine broking arm, Junge.

BGC will also acquire Ed's MGA operations Globe Underwriting - based in the UK, Epsilon - which has offices in Australia, and Cooper Gay France - based in Paris.

BGC is acquiring Ed from New York-based private equity firm Lightyear Capital. The announcement comes a year after Lightyear partner Martin Sullivan denied rumours that the PE firm is looking to sell its stake in Ed. At that time, Sullivan had said: “We will sell Ed one day—we are a private equity fund. But that will not happen any time soon. Ed is a prized asset for us and that does mean we get incoming enquiries. But we have agreed a strategy and we are fully behind them executing that plan. We are completely committed to seeing that through.”

Steve Hearn, Group CEO of Ed, said: “To be able to announce the agreement with BGC is tremendously satisfying, given their ambition and appetite for growth. We feel that the best fit and the strongest future for us is with BGC, one of the leading brokerage firms in the world. With them, we are poised to make the next leap forward to redefine insurance broking.”

The agreement will expand BGC's insurance division which was first established in 2017 when it acquired Besso Insurance Group, a Lloyd’s broker with operations in UK, Brazil, Dubai and Brazil.

Shaun Lynn, president of BGC Partners, commented: “We are delighted to reach an agreement to purchase Ed, a leading independent Lloyd’s of London broker with a global footprint. It will be an important acquisition with respect to our strategy of building the insurance brokerage division within the Company.”

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