Willis Re has agreed to acquire the US reinsurance broking division of BMS Group, establishing the relaunched broker's operational presence in the world's largest insurance market and adding a capital markets capability it has not previously held.
The deal covers BMS Intermediaries Inc., BMS Capital Advisory LLC, and BMS Re's US-focused London team. Terms are undisclosed and regulatory approval is pending. BMS Group retains its UK, Latin America, Bermuda, and Global Facultative operations.
BMS Re is the world's seventh-largest reinsurance broker, with gross revenue of almost $174 million in 2024 and 325 employees. Its US footprint covers six cities - New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Dallas - plus a London-based team focused on the US market.
The business writes property and casualty treaty reinsurance for regional and super-regional carriers, along with specialty lines, including property catastrophe, medical malpractice, and workers' compensation. Its MGA and programmes franchise, ProLink Solutions, managed programmes with premiums nearing $6 billion across more than 50 carrier relationships as of mid-2024.
The capital markets component is the most strategically distinct element of the deal. BMS Capital Advisory includes the team that has worked on catastrophe bonds, reinsurance sidecars, and other ILS placements - among them US Coastal's Chartwell Re catastrophe bond and the Fractal Re sidecar for Starwind. The unit brings with it the licences required to arrange such transactions. This is Willis Re's first acquisition of a reinsurance capital markets capability - the original Willis Re Securities unit, which had an established cat bond structuring operation, was sold to Gallagher as part of the 2021 transaction.
Willis Re was relaunched in 2024 as a joint venture between WTW and Bain Capital, two years after WTW sold its original reinsurance arm to Arthur J. Gallagher for $3.25 billion. Its build-out since has been primarily through recruitment. The broker drew approximately 80 professionals from rival Guy Carpenter since mid-2025, across property retrocession, specialty lines, analytics, and life reinsurance. That campaign that resulted in a UK High Court judgment in February 2026 finding that two departing Guy Carpenter executives had improperly assisted Willis Re's hiring push before resigning. Financial damages are yet to be determined.
The BMS Re US deal is Willis Re's first major acquisition since its relaunch. WTW has said Willis Re is expected to be a $0.30 per share headwind to its adjusted earnings in 2026.
For BMS Group, the transaction is a voluntary exit from one geography, rather than a retreat from reinsurance broking. The group is retaining its non-US reinsurance operations and CEO Nick Cook said BMS has a clear strategy to expand capabilities and reach across the retained book, which he described as being supported by approximately 140 staff. The sale price is undisclosed; BMS was advised by Evercore, Skadden, PwC, and Deloitte.
How the sale affects BMS Re's position in future global rankings will depend on the revenue weight of the retained operations. The group was ranked seventh globally on a combined book that included the US division.
The top four reinsurance brokers - Aon's Reinsurance Solutions, Guy Carpenter, Gallagher Re, and Howden Re - currently command more than 85% of the global reinsurance market. The BMS Re US acquisition gives Willis Re an established US platform, long-term client relationships, and capital markets access - three things organic growth alone would have taken years to build.
