After opening up about its aggressive merger and acquisition strategy to Insurance Business earlier this year, Ontario brokerage McDougall Insurance & Financial has continued its deal-making, this time announcing that it has merged with D.S. Currey & Son Insurance Brokers, effective immediately.

According to a press release, McDougall Insurance will be welcoming the employees of D.S. Currey & Son into its organization. These employees will stay at the company and remain in their branch office location.

The new partnership aligns with a key component of McDougall Insurance’s M&A strategy, which is that it sees value in cultivating hyper-local, specialized brokers who have close connections with their respective communities. Accordingly, D.S. Currey & Sons has established itself as a “very successful broker” operating from Ottawa, noted the press release. Together, the two brokerages will form an independent broker that will count 40 offices in Eastern Ontario, the Ottawa Valley and Central Ontario, as well as 435 employees and more than $435 million in property & casualty premium.

“D.S. Currey & Son Insurance Brokers is an excellent fit for McDougall Insurance because it gives us our first location in the city of Ottawa to complement our other locations in the Ottawa Region and the Ottawa Valley,” stated Ross L. McDougall, CEO of McDougall Insurance, in the press release. “As an independent broker, we are committed to continuing our growth pattern and offering great service and great products for our customers.”