Marsh McLennan claims ‘solid’ M&A pipeline, need not join bidding wars to secure top assets

Global insurance broker  Marsh McLennan need not join bidding wars to satiate its continuing M&A appetite, top company officials claim.

“When you hear talk of competition over acquisitions, that is not us,” CEO Dan Glaser told the Q4 earnings call. “When you hear about competition and froth, we usually aren’t engaged in that; we don’t even pick up the teaser.”

Marsh has a target to deploy $4 billion in capital in 2022 for varied forms of growth and shareholder remuneration, but “has no budget” written as a must-spend for M&A, Glaser insisted.

“We remain active in the market; we have a good solid pipeline,” COO John Doyle added. He brags of seven modestly sized deals done in Q4, including upping a stake in a key Indian unit and purchase of an affinity brokerage in France. For FY 2021, officials like the Q2 purchase of Paynewest insurance for offering geographical reach into the American northwest.

“We are looking for strong performing businesses that are well led that make us better in some way: in a market we are not serving in at the moment, not so strong in, or a geography,” Doyle said.

Glaser claims Marsh can sustain a deals pipeline even while sitting comfortably behind their desks. “Companies that can sell to anybody, they choose to sell to Marsh; they want to be on the A-team,” Glaser said.

Valuations “have increased over the years,” Glaser admitted and privately-held firms have to be reviewed rather closely for surprises in their pro-forma accounting standards. MGA’s price downright “very, very high,” Doyle added, with much of the field positioning to price as an insurtech.

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