Agency owners looking to sell face a market where deal volume is at its lowest in seven years and a few large consolidators are doing much of the buying. Three of them now account for close to a third of US brokerage deals announced this year.
ALKEME Insurance, one of the three, added three more agencies in the third quarter of 2026, and its chief executive describes all of them as specialists.
MarshBerry counted 406 announced US brokerage transactions through August 31, 2026, down 7.4% from 436 a year earlier. BroadStreet Partners, Inszone and ALKEME accounted for 30.5% of that total, while the 10 most active buyers were behind 52.2%.
OPTIS Partners put the trailing 12-month total at 646 agency transactions, the lowest rolling count since early 2019. It identified 68 unique buyers in the first half of 2026, 37 of them backed by private equity.
Read more: AGI enters insurance brokerage market at seven-year deal low
The buyers still active have become choosier. MarshBerry said in June that acquirers are favoring quality over quantity, with attention on niche expertise, organic growth potential and operational fit. It added that elevated borrowing costs and other macroeconomic pressures particularly affect buyers that rely heavily on leverage.
ALKEME's third-quarter additions are Ambassador Group in Phoenix, Thomson Financial Services in Southington, Connecticut, and C&W Insurance Agency in Manhattan, Kansas. The deals give the brokerage new teams in the West, the Northeast and the Midwest.
"What sets this group apart is how deep each of these teams goes," said Curtis Barton, CEO of ALKEME Insurance. "These are not generalists. Each one has spent years, in some cases decades, becoming the agency people turn to for a specific industry, a specific coverage, or a specific community."
Barton tied that depth to service across the company. "We can only serve our clients as well as the expertise behind us. Teams like these raise that bar for every client across ALKEME, not just the ones they bring with them," he said.
Ambassador Group has insured the hospitality trade since 1989, and ALKEME describes it as one of the Phoenix area's leading bar and restaurant insurance specialists. The agency also writes home, auto, commercial, life and health coverage.
That niche sits in a demanding line of business. Liquor liability has been a difficult class to place in many states, and venues where alcohol makes up a large share of sales typically face higher costs.
David DeLorenzo, the agency's founder, said it was built over more than three decades on detailed knowledge of its clients' businesses, particularly bars and restaurants.
"Joining ALKEME gives our team access to markets, carrier relationships, and resources that let us do even more for those clients," he said. He added that it was clear from the first conversations that ALKEME valued what his team had built, and that the team is excited about the next stage.
Thomson Financial Services is an employee benefits agency working with groups and individuals across Connecticut, with group health and Medicare coverage at the core of its business.
Benefits books are among the most valuable assets in the market. CT Acquisitions data puts benefits agencies with $1 million or more in revenue at nine to 12 times EBITDA in 2026, the highest multiple of any insurance category, on the strength of group health renewal retention that typically runs at 92% to 96%.
Read more: Why brokers are selling their employee benefits books, and who's buying
C&W Insurance Agency is a retail agency selling personal and commercial insurance to individuals and businesses in Kansas.
ALKEME said each of the three has an existing team and an established local presence, and that together they add commercial, personal lines, employee benefits and hospitality specialty capabilities in growing markets.
The third-quarter deals follow seven acquisitions in the first quarter and eight in the second. Two of the second-quarter agencies, Top Floor Insurance and Blue Sky Insurance, specialize in apartment and multifamily coverage.
Read next: ALKEME Insurance acquires eight agencies in Q2 2026
ALKEME says it has completed more than 95 acquisitions since its founding in 2020 and operates from over 100 locations in 35 states.
Private equity capital supports the buying. GCP Capital Partners closed a single-asset continuation vehicle for ALKEME in June 2025, with Apollo's Sponsor and Secondary Solutions business as lead investor. The vehicle includes significant unfunded commitments that will be drawn to support the brokerage's M&A strategy.
ALKEME said it will keep pursuing high-performing, culturally aligned agencies in priority markets across the country.
Consolidation is also running at the top of the market. On August 31, Aon agreed to acquire USI Insurance Services from KKR for about $17 billion. MarshBerry said the deal showed that consolidation remains active, even though not every firm is benefiting equally.
