A longtime Maine insurance and brokerage firm has been purchased by a Chicago company that intends to grow its presence in New England.
Hub International Limited announced in a news release Monday that it has acquired the assets of Cumberland-based Norton Insurance Agency Inc. and Norton Financial Services Inc. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“Norton is one of the most respected brokerage firms in northern New England and their staff of seasoned professionals will be a welcome addition to our organization,” Charles Brophy, CEO of Hub New England, said in the release. “We are looking forward to expanding the successful Norton Financial platform throughout our region.”
Norton Insurance provides commercial property and casualty and personal lines insurance. Norton Financial provides securities and advisory services along with employee benefits insurance services. The company has additional offices in Brunswick and Winthrop, as well as Portsmouth, New Hampshire. An independent agency, Norton employs about 64 people.
The Norton leadership team, including Jeff Begin, president of Norton Insurance, and Peter Fendler, president of Norton Financial, will join Hub New England and report to Brophy, according to the release.
HUB International was formed through the merger of 11 privately held Canadian insurance brokerages in 1998. Today, it is ranked among the largest insurance brokers worldwide. It intends to grow the company through strategic acquisitions. In 2015, it made 43 acquisitions.
Hub has more than 330 locations around the globe and about 8,200 employees, according to a July ranking of the world’s 10 largest insurance brokers by Crain’s Business Insurance. Hub captured the No. 9 spot based on more than $1.4 billion it reported in brokerage revenue in 2015, according to Crain.
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