PIB Group extends further into Ireland through Damus Acquisitions Holdings Limited

December 15, 2022

Damus Acquisitions Holdings Ltd (BHP Community Ltd trading as BHP Insurance, and Keegan Meredith & Williams Insurances Ltd) is the latest specialist business to become part of the rapidly growing insurance intermediary PIB Group Ltd (‘PIB’). The Dublin based broker known as BHP Insurance (‘BHP’) further strengthens PIB’s portfolio of businesses within its Irish division, led by Campion Insurance.

Formed of two businesses (BHP, and Keegan Meredith & Williams Insurances Ltd (‘KMW’)), their arrival adds to PIB’s accelerated growth in Ireland and builds on the eight businesses already acquired. With the addition of BHP’s two offices and 30 employees, they bring the total headcount for PIB in Ireland to a talented team of 350 employees.

About Damus Acquisitions Holdings Ltd.

Damus Acquisitions Holdings Limited trading as BHP (“BHP”, “The Company”, “The Business”) is an independent insurance broker based in Dublin. The company consists of two businesses.

BHP is a commercial broker based in West Dublin with 23 staff. BHP is the only not-for profit (NFP) focused broker in the Irish market with deep sector knowledge, boasting a unique position with three schemes targeting the NFP space. They have strong relationships across a broad range of clients including charities, social housing, community groups and community employment schemes.

Keegan Meredith and Williams Insurances (KMW) is a commercial broker based in South Dublin with seven staff. KMW have developed strong sports and general commercial insurance expertise.

Integration

Following completion of the deal the businesses will continue to trade as BHP and KMW under their existing brands for the medium term. The businesses will form part of the Irish division, led by Campion Insurance who have been part of PIB since 2021.

Teams will remain in their current locations, with the existing management team continuing in the business led by Martina Westphal and John Williams.

Martina Westphal, Managing Director BHP Insurance commented: “We are delighted that BHP and KMW have now joined the growing PIB team in Ireland. Collaborating with Melior Equity Partners over the past year and a half has delivered impressive results for our business and has also led to this very positive, strategic step of BHP partnering with PIB Group. This is great news for our customers and employees. With our specialism and dynamism we can contribute strongly to the growth of the business in Ireland and look forward to working with Campion Insurance to benefit from their success and scale in the Irish market.  I’d like to thank the Melior team for their partnership, expertise and support. We are particularly pleased to have achieved this success with a local, Irish private equity partner.”

This is Melior Equity Partners’ first exit from Melior Equity Partners II, a €160 million private equity fund closed earlier this year supported by the ISIF, the EIF, Bank of Ireland and AIB, amongst others.

 

Esmond Greene, Managing Director, Melior Equity Partners said: “Our relationship with BHP over the past 18 months has supported significant growth in the business. Revenues have grown by 25% driven by a 20% increase in policies and an increase in customer retention rates.  Employee numbers are also up more than 40% in this period. Our partnership has benefited from Melior’s extensive expertise in financial services, particularly in the insurance sector with our team having previously led a successful investment in the AA Ireland. We’d like to thank Martina Westphal and her team for their outstanding work and wish BHP and PIB every success in the future.”

 

John Lacy and John Hannon of FinRes provided M&A and strategic advice and capital to BHP over the last number of years. Advisors to the sellers included Deloitte Corporate Finance, William Fry and KPMG.   

Complimenting PIB Ireland Strategy

BHP’s focus is on the not-for profit sector and in particular in the housing sector, while KMW focuses on commercial lines business. These businesses will complement PIB’s strategy to build market leading positions in specialist businesses. They will provide further significant opportunities for the Company by combining with Campion Insurance and leveraging the combined strong relationships in the Irish market.

Jim Campion, CEO of Campion Insurance, commented “Once again we are delighted to welcome new members to the PIB Group team in Ireland, so I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our new colleagues in BHP and KMW. This news further highlights our growing strength in the Irish market and also continues the strategy of developing our specialist insurance offerings for the benefit of our customers. We are fully confident that with the great collaboration already in place across our Irish businesses, BHP, KMW and the whole Irish group will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Further growth

Looking ahead to 2023, PIB and Campion Insurance will continue to invest significantly in the Irish insurance market, and attract more excellent local brokers to the growing division.