Steve Oxley spent years developing Avec Insurance Managers, a specialist MGA that served more than 200 brokers throughout Ontario. When it became time to sell, he fielded several offers before finally deciding on Kaufman Financial Group, the parent company of Burns & Wilcox Canada.
He attributes his success in attracting multiple suitors to key strategies all designed to win a broker top dollar for his or her book and the operation. He’s now sharing details with .
“You have to have a specialty, I think,” Oxley said. “You also have to have well-groomed relationships with your insurance company markets.”
Avec Insurance Managers, for example, specialized in surplus lines, inland marine and wet marine – coverages that are highly sought after by other wholesalers. Oxley notes that these niche products allowed the firm to establish itself as a notable source of potential income to acquirers.
“You need things that can be continued through the new owner, but may be somewhat unique to them. Maybe they do a little bit of it, but they don’t have a well-established presence in the marketplace,” Oxley said. “You have to prove that you’ll boost their earnings.”
Also, from an operational standpoint, Oxley recommends that independent firms continually undergo rigorous financial audits as a way to ensure that business processes are sound for any potential pre-M&A due diligence.
“It’s helpful to have audits done on you by others, so you can demonstrate that you’re a well-run organization and it won’t be a problem for anyone to join you into theirs,” he said. “Nobody wants to buy a problem.”
Oxley says that the final audit never concerned him, as he “had a number of good audits” and was prepared it.
In the end, Oxley credits these strategies for leaving him pleased with the entire process.
“There’s nothing I would do differently,” he said. “I love this business, and I’ve been working in it for over 40 years. Unfortunately, though, you can’t have this kind of fun forever, and at some point you have to leave.”
