The summer drought in the UK did not fully extend to UK insurance distribution mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in July. There were six new deals announced deals in the month, two more than in June, which remains well below the long-term average and puts 2026 even further behind 2025 on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. However, the size of July’s deals was well above average. From a deal value perspective, July was the biggest month for sector M&A of 2026 so far, with a number of notable new transactions involving private equity (PE), PE-backed consolidators, and overseas buyers.
M&A Market Update
Following a very slow first half of the year for sector M&A, H2 of 2026 got underway in July with six new announced M&A deals, bringing the YTD total to 47, which is 22% down on the same point in 2025. Transaction volumes remain muted, with a large number of the historically most acquisitive firms having either slowed down or quietly paused their UK M&A this year. Even if the market sees a short-term rush of deals in the autumn, which is a possibility in light of the potential threat of a change in Capital Gains Tax in the next Budget (now scheduled for the last week of October – so sellers need to be quick), 2026 is likely to end with fewer announced deals than 2025, which was itself a multi-year low for the sector.
Deal volume is not the same as deal value
Over the past couple of years, the sector has seen a decline in both deal volumes and values, with average target sizes having reduced and a limited number of the larger ‘mega deals’ that generally dominate deal value statistics. July 2026 was notable as it saw the announcement of the largest sector deal of the year so far (Preservation Capital Partners’ sale of a majority shareholding of Optio Group to Cinven and La Caisse), as well as a number of medium-sized deals that were well above average, making it the biggest month so far for sector M&A in 2026, and increasing the possibility that in spite of muted deal activity, 2026 could end up posting an increase on the £2.1 billion of aggregate deal value seen in 2025 (see also MarshBerry’s latest The State of UK Insurance Distribution report, available here). All of the six businesses sold in July reported having more than 20 staff, and collectively they employ more than 400. For comparison, in 2025 the average headcount across all 99 announced sector deals was only 15.
Deal volume statistics in any given year are of course skewed by just a handful of very large transactions, or even just one (think JLT in 2018, or what a sale of PIB Group might have meant for the numbers had it sold last year). There are typically only half a dozen sector deals with a value of more than £100 million in a single year. Since 2016 there have been 59, which is less than 5% of all transactions by volume. But these large deals have accounted for more than 75% of total sector deal values. And, of course, many of these large deals are PE to PE transactions, so a business refinancing (as Optio has just done), and not actual sector consolidation.
Intuitively, one might expect that as a market consolidates that deal sizes would just get bigger and bigger. And they are – in the U.S. recent deals for AssuredPartners, NFP, Risk Strategies and McGriff have been amongst the largest ever sector transactions. More mega deals like this will happen, both in the U.S. and the UK. But they are relatively rare, and invariably a small proportion of overall deal volumes. What is perhaps less intuitive is that outside of these rare mega deals, industry consolidation has also served to reduce average and median deal size. With fewer medium-sized targets to go for, many domestic consolidators have sought to grow by acquiring smaller targets in high numbers.
The continuing relevance of private equity
The Optio transaction and the fact that the largest deal of the year to-date has been an acquisition by financial investors rather than a trade buyer (or ‘strategic’ to use the U.S. parlance) reinforces the continuing importance of PE in the sector. But it also demonstrates the considerable and growing appetite for specialty business (managing general agent (MGA) and wholesale) from PE. The biggest deal of last month was Carbon Underwriting’s sale to FTV Capital and in April Eaton Gate was acquired by DOXA, a U.S.-based MGA consolidation platform backed by PE. Many of the biggest UK deals in 2026 have involved a specialty target. PE capital has been behind 45% of all sector deals in 2026, but in specialty business only, (and specialty transactions account for 27% of all deals in 2026) this increases to more than 50%.
While retail commercial broking continues to attract PE investment, as it has for many years, PE investors are being increasingly drawn towards the specialty segment, where organic growth can often be achieved much more rapidly than in retail, albeit with a common trade-off being increased earnings volatility and greater levels of concentration risk. This trend is well-established in the U.S., where speciality firms with strong growth momentum routinely sell at a valuation premium over their retail counterparts. It is newer in the UK and Europe, where the speciality segment is smaller and there are fewer ‘platform’ businesses to go after. This in turn makes a ‘buy-and-build’ model of M&A-driven growth more difficult to achieve (Optio was a relatively rare in achieving this in Europe). As the UK (and indeed European) MGA segment continues to grow and evolve, PE will remain an important catalyst for M&A.
Notable transactions (July 2026):
- As noted above, in the largest sector deal of the year so far, MGA consolidator Optio Group announced that it had completed a sale, with Preservation Capital Partners making way for Cinven and Canadian investment group La Caisse (formerly CDPQ), highlighting the continuing appetite from financial sponsors for specialist platforms in the UK and Europe.
- In another relatively rare example of a “new new” entrant from overseas entering the UK market for the first time via acquisition, French broking and mortgage group Odealim, which has backing from PE firms TA Associates and Ardian, announced a deal for Leicester-based portfolio of firms including Rhino Trade Insurance, Rhino Home Protect, Rhino Protect, Vantage, Quest and ICPA, which collectively offer a range of specialist insurance products and other services. The target businesses had common ownership and have been treated as a single deal for the purposes of the M&A statistics here.
- In one of the largest personal lines deals of the year so far, U.S.-based classic car specialist Hagerty announced a deal to acquire Bennetts, the UK’s second largest motorcycle insurance broker, from Lucida Group. The motorcycle segment has seen a number of recent deals and Bennetts itself has had a number of different owners over the past decade, but will expect to have found its permanent home at Hagerty.
Other transactions (July 2026):
- Specialist Risk Group, which has been quieter in UK M&A in 2026 as it continues to build out some of its international operations, announced a deal for Superian Insurance Group, a specialist broker and MGA in the medical liability and healthcare segments.
- In its largest acquisition to date, Partners& announced that it has agreed to acquire M&DH Insurance Services, a Bedford-based broker specialising in the construction and manufacturing sectors and employing more than 70 staff.
- Continuing its push into Scotland, Bain-backed Jensten Group announced a deal for Kelvin Smith Insurance Brokers, a Glasgow-based broker that brings a further £22m of GWP and c.3,000 clients.
