The Baldwin Group’s third-quarter results, its final full quarter before a planned exit from public markets, show total revenue up 31% to $480.3 million. Strip out the January 2026 acquisition of CAC Group and the picture is different. Organic revenue grew 6% in Q3 and just 3% through the nine months ended September 30, the slowest nine-month pace since the company listed on Nasdaq in 2019.
For context: Baldwin posted 17% organic growth for full-year 2024 and described it as “industry leading.” Full-year 2025 came in at 7%. The nine-month 2026 rate of 3% continues that descent, and $91.7 million of Q3’s total revenue came from CAC Group partnership commissions that are excluded from the organic calculation.
The CAC Group merger, completed January 1, 2026, is the dominant factor in the headline figures. CAC had revenues approaching $295 million heading into the deal and brought capabilities in natural resources, private equity, real estate, construction, financial lines, cyber, and surety. Its contribution has inflated total revenue comparisons for all three quarters of 2026, which will lapse once the deal passes its 12-month owned mark.
The adjusted EBITDA picture is stronger. The margin expanded 240 basis points to 22.2%, adjusted EBITDA grew 47% to $106.9 million, and adjusted free cash flow increased 33% to $55.6 million. These figures reflect genuine operating leverage in the distribution business.
The GAAP net loss of $81.6 million, more than double the $30.2 million loss in Q3 2025, reflects $21 million in go-private transaction costs added back in the adjusted EBITDA reconciliation, alongside higher amortization, interest expense, and contingent consideration charges that accompany Baldwin’s acquisition pace.
The Q3 results land weeks after Baldwin announced a definitive agreement to be taken private in a deal valued at approximately $7.7 billion. The buyer group is led by Sequence AI Holdings and DFO Management, the family investment office of Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell. Under the terms, Baldwin shareholders receive $32.50 per share in cash, with eligible employees retaining a significant minority stake alongside Sequence and DFO. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2027, subject to stockholder and regulatory approval.
Sequence is an AI-focused technology holding firm backed by 8VC, Conviction, and Lux Capital. The combination is framed around AI-driven transformation of Baldwin’s distribution model. CEO Trevor Baldwin described it as giving the firm “long-duration capital and frontier AI execution.” DFO Management’s investment structure differs from a conventional private equity fund, providing patient capital without a fixed exit horizon.
The practical implication for the agencies, brokers, and practices within Baldwin’s network is that the platform they operate through is heading into a period of structural transformation under new ownership with a technology mandate. The rebrand of Founder Shield, Baldwin’s digital insurance platform for high-growth companies, completed in October 2026, weeks before the company’s departure from public markets, signals that the consolidation of Baldwin’s operating identity under a single brand is continuing through the transition.
Baldwin’s $3B/30 Catalyst Program, described in the press release as being designed to “accelerate the infusion of automation, business process optimization and artificial intelligence,” contributed $2.9 million in transformation costs in Q3, added back in the adjusted EBITDA reconciliation. That program will presumably carry into the private company structure.
