7. Acrisure turned attention to branding as M&As faded

Acrisure LLC has spent the past decade adding to its business via hundreds of acquisitions of smaller brokers, but in 2023 it spent more time reorganizing its existing operations.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based brokerage, which was a relatively unknown company 10 years ago but is now the world’s sixth-largest brokerage, previously allowed brokerages it acquired to continue operating under their own names, but that changed with a new branding strategy announced in May.

The company said that going forward its units would operate under the Acrisure flag and that it would reorganize its operations by regions.

The story about the rebranding and reorganization was the seventh-most-read risk management-related story on the Business Insurance website in 2023.

The move followed a sharp decline in mergers and acquisitions for the broker. 

Acrisure completed 116 deals in 2022, down from 155 in 2021, and as of mid-June the company had closed on or signed letters of intent on only 40 acquisitions this year, as rising interest rates dampened growth.

More changes may be ahead – in June stories began circulating that the broker might seek an initial public offering in 2024.

No. 8 most-read story