Member Article

Bradford Insurance brokers Beaumonts acquired in £18 million deal

Bradford-based Beaumonts Insurance Group Ltd, and its two subsidiaries, have been acquired by listed Bristol consultancy Jelf, in a £10.1 million deal.

In addition, deferred consideration of up to £8.28 million will become payable upon delivery of agreed performance-related increases in EBITDA.

Jelf, an independent consultancy which provides insurance, financial services and employee benefit services, has acquired the firms two trading subsidiaries, Beaumonts Insurance Brokers Limited and Beaumonts (Leeds) Limited, plus the business and certain assets of Beaumonts Risk Management LLP.

Jelf has an existing office in Manchester and the acquisition of The Insurance Partnership (June 2013) brought offices in Hull, York and central Leeds.

Beaumonts is a Chartered Insurance Broker with offices in Bradford, Horsforth, Shrewsbury and Doncaster. Beaumonts Risk Management, based in Bradford, offers health and safety and employment law advisory services.

In the year ended 31 December 2013 Beaumonts (including Beaumonts Risk Management LLP) achieved revenue of approximately £6.9 million which resulted in Adjusted EBITDA of approximately £1.5 million.

The acquisition will be funded by a new £25 million loan facility with Barclays. The new debt facility will be used to repay existing debt of £13.7 million and provide cash to finance the acquisition.

Alex Alway, Group CE of Jelf, said: “I am delighted to welcome Simon Bland and his team to Jelf. We are privileged that Simon and his team have decided that being part of Jelf will enable them to realise their ambitions for future growth.

“We have been talking to Simon and his team for some time and during that time we have realised how close we are culturally, and both teams are excited at the prospect of working together.”

Simon Bland, managing director at Beaumonts said: “Beaumonts was never a business for sale, and we had rejected many offers in the past, but right from the first conversations the two teams gelled.

“It was immediately obvious that Jelf would enable us to realise our ambitions whilst also providing a wider product range for our clients and enhanced career prospects for our staff.

“The combination of Jelf, Jelf Insurance Partnership and Jelf Beaumonts will be a force to be reckoned with in the North. I am looking forward to working with our new colleagues in Jelf. “

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .