Gallagher has purchased a majority stake in ACE Re Gallagher Arabia Reinsurance Brokers, extending its reach in the Saudi Arabian reinsurance market as the sector undergoes a period of regulatory-driven consolidation. The transaction was announced on June 10, 2026, with the broker operating out of Al Khobar and a second office in Riyadh in the pipeline. The deal brings Saudi-based reinsurance clients under Gallagher’s global specialty and reinsurance network at a time when Fitch Ratings projects that smaller local insurers will face mounting pressure to merge or be acquired, driven by incoming capital thresholds and a competitive pricing environment that has weakened underwriting profitability across the market.
Rather than replacing the existing team, Gallagher has kept the ACE Re Gallagher Arabia management in place, folding the operation into its wider Middle East platform. The firm’s regional headcount has crossed 100 re/insurance and risk professionals over the past four years. The transaction is also positioned within the broader context of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program, which seeks to draw foreign investment.
Gallagher has named Abdulkarim Almeajel to head its Saudi Arabia operations as chief executive officer. Almeajel spent 15 years at Tawuniya, the country’s largest insurer by gross written premiums, where he served as executive director of general insurance before his departure. Earlier in his career, he worked at Al Rajhi Takaful and Aramco. The firm is also looking to grow its Saudi headcount, with open positions across a range of specialty lines including aerospace, cyber, construction, financial lines and mergers and acquisitions, marine, natural resources, power, property, and special risks and crisis management.
Nadim Semaan, senior executive officer at Gallagher UAE, said the deal represents a new chapter for the firm in the region. “Saudi Arabia is a dynamic market undergoing significant expansion, and our global expertise, coupled with deep local knowledge, enables us to better support businesses across the Kingdom with their (re)insurance and risk management needs,” Semaan said. Yolla El Khoury, CEO of ACE Gallagher Holding, pointed to the deal as a consolidation of what had already been a working relationship. “What began as a successful partnership has evolved into a more integrated regional model. Consolidating our specialty and reinsurance operations enables us to move forward with a unified vision, enhanced capabilities, and a platform designed for long-term growth across the Middle East,” El Khoury said.
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Saudi Arabia’s insurance sector is in the middle of a structural shift. The Saudi Insurance Authority, which took over regulatory oversight in 2023 from the Saudi Central Bank and the Council of Health Insurance, has set 2027 as the target year for introducing a risk-based capital framework. The regulator has also directed attention toward underwriting discipline and reporting standards. In a June 2025 report, Fitch Ratings said these changes would support the sector’s credit profile over time, while adding to near-term cost pressures. Smaller insurers are expected to bear a disproportionate share of that burden given their more limited scale.
A separate regulatory requirement that came into force in January 2025 obliges insurers to offer local reinsurers the first opportunity to take on 30% of outward reinsurance cessions. The rule is designed to strengthen domestic reinsurance capacity. Fitch noted it carries some initial counterparty risk for primary insurers, but added that the bulk of cessions are still expected to go to internationally rated reinsurers, with local counterparty risk diminishing as domestic players mature.
