The rapid expansion of UK broking giant Ardonagh Group is continuing at pace, with the firm today announcing the creation of Ardonagh Europe as it prepares to take its build-and-buy model across the continent.
Headquartered in Dublin and led by newly promoted Conor Brennan, who will also continue in his role of Arachas CEO, Ardonagh Europe will be part of Ardonagh International and operate alongside Ardonagh Global Partners, which is being led by Des O’Connor.
Brennan has been CEO at Arachas Corporate Brokers since May 2018, having previously held roles at Zurich, including as head of UK general insurance and CEO of general insurance in Ireland. He will now be joined by chief commercial officer Maria Cospito, who was most recently head of Navigators & General at Zurich, and chief acquisitions officer Colin O’Reilly, who makes the switch from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. Also joining the team will be CFO of Arachas, John McCarthy.
Arachas became part of Ardonagh in 2020 and has since made several acquisitions. Earlier this month it announced the opening of the Ardonagh Global Data and Risk Management Centre in Mullingar, Ireland, as well as the creation of 60 data science and analysis roles.
“The launch today of Ardonagh Europe signals our continued focus on increasing our global footprint,” said Ardonagh chief executive David Ross. “We have spent the last 12 months building a meaningful pipeline in geographies which present us with significant complementary opportunities.
“Almost a year to the day since we acquired Arachas, we are poised to execute on our campaign in Europe, with Conor and his newly formed team perfectly positioned to establish themselves as the partner of choice for extraordinary businesses.”
Meanwhile, Brennan noted that Ardonagh has a “special culture” with a strong pipeline of acquisitions. He believes making them a reality will be a “dream job.”
