Towergate disbands M&A team amid pause in acquisition strategy

Towergate’s mergers and acquisitions team, headed by Ryan Brown, have shifted to other roles in the group while the company puts its acquisitions strategy on hold.

Brown himself, who joined the broking group from investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in 2013, is now finance director of Towergate Underwriting.

When Towergate announced its recently completed takeover and financial restructuring, it said it would put acquisitions on hold until the completion of its change programme at the end of 2015.

But interim chief executive Scott Egan insisted in a recent interview that, although Towergate was “in no great rush” to start making acquisitions again, the company would consider them “as and when they come along and it is the right time for us and the right opportunity”.

Therefore it is possible that the M&A team could regroup if the right deal came along.

A Towergate spokeswoman told Insurance Times: “Acquisitions have been in the DNA of Towergate but due to our financial restructuring this had been wisely put on hold.

“Our people are out in the business, prioritising projects that we started prior to the recapitalisation that now need finishing with an absolute focus on organic growth.

“Over a month ago we announced internally that Ryan Brown (the group’s M&A director),who is a valuable member of our senior team, would take on the role of finance director for Underwriting. This is a critical business for the group and Ryan will be working closely with Clive Nathan.”