Arachas Corporate Brokers, the insurance broker group chaired by former minister for finance Charlie McCreevy, saw its net profit jump by 35 per cent last year, as deal making across the industry continued at pace.
The company’s profit rose to €30.9 million from €22.9 million for 2021, as turnover, mainly composed of commissions and fees, advanced to €89.4 million from €61 million, according to newly-filed accounts with the Companies Registration Office.
Arachas, which has been one the most acquisitive brokerage groups in the Republic in recent times, paid out €77.7 million in dividends last year to holding companies within the wider corporate family, according to the filings.
The company, led by chief executive Conor Brennan, itself was acquired in 2020 by Ardonagh, a UK brokerage group that is backed by US private equity firms Madison Dearborn and HPS Partners, for €250 million.
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Arachas’s growth last year was supported by integration of recent acquisitions, such as Waterford-based Hooper Dolan Insurances, Dublin-based Stuart Insurances and Apex Insurance in Cork.
An Arachas acquisition vehicle also transferred recent-purchased brokerages including Glennon Insurances in Dublin and Limerick-based O’Malley-Griffin to Arachas Corporate Brokers in March of this year.
“Arachas has continued to grow strongly in 2023 with the Glennon acquisition performing excellently and our appropriate, cost-effective insurance products attracting new customers,” said John McCarthy, chief financial officer at Arachas and Ardonagh Europe.
“Our employment numbers have now increased to 700 people at our network of 18 offices throughout the country.”
The wider Irish market has seen a flurry of broker deals in the past six years as it followed waves of consolidation in the UK and North America.
The ultimate backers of most of the purchasing vehicles are private equity firms, attracted to a sector that is fee-based and delivers steady revenues through the economic cycle. This allows buyers to service the debt needed to finance further deals.
Mr McCreevy, who was minister for finance between 1997 and 2004 and subsequently served as European commissioner for internal markets for over five years, joined the board of Arachas following the company’s 2019 purchase of Galway-based brokerage, Murray & Spelman, where he was chairman.
