EQT has agreed to acquire a majority stake in London-based specialty (re)insurance broker McGill and Partners at an enterprise value of $2bn (roughly £1.48bn), buying out founding backer Warburg Pincus while founders Steve McGill and John Lloyd reinvest and all 600-plus staff take a payout through the firm's all-employee ownership structure.
McGill and Partners was founded in May 2019 by Steve McGill, the former group president of Aon, and John Lloyd, with Warburg Pincus providing the seed capital to build a specialty broker aimed at complex corporate and institutional risk.
Seven years on, the business turns over more than $250m, employs upwards of 600 people across seven countries and serves over 1,000 insurance and reinsurance clients.
The deal, announced on Friday, is being done through EQT X, the Swedish group's growth equity fund. EQT is taking a majority position; Warburg Pincus is selling its entire holding, ending a partnership that dates to the broker's launch.
The cap-table detail is where this transaction differs from a standard private equity secondary. McGill, who continues as chief executive, and chairman Lloyd are both rolling over, retaining what the parties describe as a meaningful ownership stake alongside the incoming fund.
Beneath the founders, McGill and Partners operates an all-employee ownership structure, meaning every one of its 600-plus colleagues holds equity and participates in the exit. EQT has said it will maintain that arrangement through a new equity participation plan intended to align staff with the next phase of growth.
"To have turned what was merely an idea seven years ago into a $2bn global specialty enterprise is an achievement we are all incredibly proud of," McGill said, describing the transaction as a milestone for the City firm.
Miriam Tawil, a partner at EQT, said the capital would fund organic growth, with the broker targeting a larger share of the US and international markets and deepening its position at Lloyd's of London, the world's largest insurance market.
Completion is expected in the first half of 2027, subject to customary regulatory conditions and approvals. EQT has indicated that EQT X will be 85 to 90 per cent invested once the deal closes.
The advisory line-up was heavy on both sides. Evercore, Perella Weinberg, Freshfields and Unity Advisory acted for McGill and Partners, with Mayer Brown and Liberty Corporate Finance advising management. EQT was advised by Ardea Partners, with Clifford Chance as legal counsel.
The transaction lands in a market where private equity continues to hunt insurance distribution assets. Brokers and managing general agents are capital-light, generate recurring commission income and consolidate readily through bolt-on acquisitions — a profile that has drawn buyout capital into the sector repeatedly over the past decade.
For the City, it is another example of a UK-founded intermediary reaching a billion-dollar-plus valuation inside a decade without an initial public offering.
Original source: City AM — https://www.cityam.com/mcgill-and-partners-staff-to-benefit-from-eqts-2bn-insurance-broker-deal/
