World Insurance Associates LLC has acquired the business of Still Creek Insurance of Rockville, Maryland, effective March 1, 2026.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Still Creek specializes in auto, home, business and life insurance and is led by partners Steven Bender, Kevin Rowe and David Wexler.
The Still Creek deal continues a long-running acquisition strategy for World, which has built its growth almost entirely around buying independent agencies.
Founded in 2011 by Rich Eknoian, the Iselin, New Jersey-based brokerage has completed more than 250 acquisitions and now serves clients from more than 250 offices nationwide.
That pace has been fueled by substantial private equity backing. Charlesbank Capital Partners first invested in the company in April 2020, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management more recently joined as a co-lead equity investor, with Goldman Sachs investing more than $1 billion across an equity stake and a subordinated debt financing to support continued M&A activity. That investment valued World at approximately $3.4 billion in total enterprise value.
World was among the most active acquirers in the country in 2025, according to OPTIS Partners' annual agent and broker M&A tracking, with its deal activity increasing year-over-year even as the broader market slowed.
Still Creek's focus on auto and home insurance places it in a personal lines market that has seen notable volatility in Maryland over the past two years. Average full-coverage car insurance premiums in the state peaked at just over $4,000 annually in March 2025 before falling roughly $400 since, a pullback attributed partly to a 19% decrease in fatal crashes between 2024 and 2025.
Even with that decline, Maryland drivers with a clean driving record still pay an average of $3,281 a year, well above the national average of $2,114. Homeowners insurance in the state averages roughly $1,700 to $1,750 annually, and Maryland homeowners who file a single claim see their premiums rise by an average of $417, according to MoneyGeek analysis.
That kind of rate volatility has made personal lines placement more complex for independent agents, increasing the value of access to a broader panel of carriers, a benefit World has emphasized in prior acquisitions as a key advantage for agencies joining its platform.
World's continued dealmaking stands out against a broader US insurance brokerage M&A market that pulled back in 2025. OPTIS Partners counted 695 insurance agency deals for the year, down from 787 in 2024, with the fourth quarter producing the fewest transactions since 2019.
Even so, the number of significant transactions increased, including six firms with more than $25 million in revenue changing hands, such as AssuredPartners' $2.9 billion sale to Arthur J. Gallagher and Accession Risk Management's $1.7 billion transaction with Brown & Brown. The buyer base itself narrowed, with only 95 firms announcing acquisitions in 2025, down from 104 the prior year.
Against that backdrop, industry analysts including OPTIS Partners have pointed to succession planning as a recurring driver of continued deal flow, noting that many smaller, family-run agencies lack an internal buyer and increasingly look to scaled platforms like World for both capital and a broader carrier panel. Still Creek's move fits that pattern, even as overall market volume has declined.
Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla provided legal counsel to World on the transaction, while APEX Business Consulting LLC provided legal counsel to Still Creek. No other advisors, diligence firms or legal counsel were disclosed.
