Hilb Group has acquired another Michigan-based property and casualty agency, effective August 1, extending its Midwest build-out at a moment when overall US insurance distribution M&A activity has slowed to its weakest pace in nearly a decade.
Deal volume across the industry fell to 148 agency and brokerage transactions in the first quarter of 2026, the lowest first-quarter total since 2016 and down 6% year on year, continuing a three-year decline from a 2021 peak of 1,108 annual deals to a trailing 12-month pace of roughly 686. Private equity-backed and hybrid buyers, including Carlyle-backed platforms like Hilb, accounted for 72% of transactions that did happen.
The target agency was not named in Hilb's announcement, consistent with the company's usual practice for smaller tuck-in deals, and financial terms were not disclosed. It is at least the second Michigan-based P&C agency Hilb has picked up in the past nine months, following a similar acquisition effective December 2025.
The deal follows a run that passed 200 acquisitions earlier this year, taking Hilb Group to more than 125 offices across 32 states since Carlyle acquired a majority stake in 2019.
For independent agencies weighing a sale, the divergence is crucial. As overall deal counts fall, the buyer pool willing to transact is increasingly concentrated among a small number of well-capitalised, PE-backed consolidators like Hilb rather than a broad market of active acquirers, a dynamic with implications for valuations and for how much competitive pressure independent agencies face if they choose to stay put.
