Hawke’s Bay Insurances Ltd (HBi) has merged with
BrokerWeb Risk Services Ltd (BWRS) which will take effect from 1 November 2015.
“This is being achieved by way of BWRS acquiring the Goodwill and associated assets of HBi,” HBi’s Bill Reilly and BWRS’
David Archer said in a joint statement yesterday.
“The coming together of these two businesses will produce an enhanced Hawkes Bay broking business of size that Bill and David know will ensure the high standards of client service aspired to by both companies will be best sustained into the future in an increasingly complex insurance market,” the statement continued.
The two operations will continue as separate divisions of BWRS in their own premises for a period of time, and all staff members are to be retained in the combined operations, the statement said.
The Napier operation of BWRS will continue to be run by incumbent BWRS Hawkes Bay regional manager Bruce Lewis and Bill Reilly will continue in charge of the HBi business.
BWRS chief operating officer Alan Black will be overseeing the coming together of the two businesses.
“For all of us involved it will be ‘business as usual’ and, certainly for our insurance company partners we are intent on these moves creating an even stronger bond with those insurers who have assisted us over the years,” Reilly and Archer said.
Austbrokers Holdings is
a 50% equity partner of BWRS and CEO
Mark Searles said he was pleased with the latest development.
“It’s great to see the momentum of growth is continuing after our recent expansion into New Zealand,” he told
Insurance Business.
“David Archer (CEO of
BrokerWeb Risk Services Limited) has done an outstanding job of working with HBi’s Managing Director Bill Reilly to bring together two businesses with a strong client focus – they will be a good cultural fit.”
He added: “This acquisition is another step towards NZbrokers’ vision of combining its strong New Zealand heritage, local expertise, national footprint and global reach to be New Zealand’s most trusted insurance and risk solutions network.”
