GroupAssur merges with Evolution Insurance

GroupAssur becomes the Largest Independent Canadian-owned P&C Managing General Agent with this merger

MONTRÉAL, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - GroupAssur, a Canadian Managing General Agent ("MGA") specializing in Property and Casualty ("P&C") insurance lines, today announced that it has merged with Evolution Insurance ("Evolution"), an MGA and wholesaler specializing in complex risks that offers its facilities, programs and services to Canadian brokers. Novacap, one of Canada's leading private equity firms, owns a majority interest in GroupAssur. Following the combination, each company will initially continue to operate under their existing brand names, with an objective of full integration in 2022.

Founded in 2008, and led by Yves Daigneault and Louis-Philippe Ferland, Evolution has grown to become a sought-after resource to insurance brokers across Canada. The company specializes in managing complex risks requiring a specialized approach and mindset, with a product that is more adaptive to client needs. The combination of GroupAssur and Evolution creates an even stronger platform with scale to build from across the country.  The owners of Evolution will continue as shareholders of GroupAssur.

"We are thrilled to bring together two great companies and two great cultures, led by exceptional entrepreneurs," said Marcel Larochelle, Managing Partner, Financial Services at Novacap. "With this transaction, we continue to grow a strong national platform that can meet the needs of brokers and their clients across a broad spectrum of products and geography. Evolution has emerged as a strong player in the P&C marketplace, which will complement well with GroupAssur's product offerings and target markets."

 "When we partnered with Novacap in 2020, our goal was to build the best MGA platform in Canada. By combining with Evolution, we are well on our way," said Jean-Francois Raymond, President of GroupAssur. "With Evolution's global relationships and expertise, we will be able to have a broader product offering in additional markets with increased distribution. Furthermore, our philosophies are fully aligned, as we are both always striving to meet the needs of our customers and brokers in markets where it is becoming increasingly difficult to find specialized products for clients."

 "We have known Jean-François and GroupAssur for many years and are impressed by the great company they have built," said Yves Daigneault, President of Evolution Insurance. "With Novacap's guidance, we are proud to be joining with this great company in the next leg of our growth. With our combined capabilities, we foresee many great synergistic relationships developing across all of our customer, broker and client networks, for the benefit of all stakeholders."

Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP acted as legal advisors to GroupAssur.

Lavery de Billy, L.L.P. acted as legal advisors to Evolution.

About GroupAssur

Founded in 1993 by a group of brokers coming together to provide services to larger enterprises, GroupAssur is an MGA servicing specialized insurance needs of brokers and customers across Canada. The company provides underwriting services for complex insurance policies on behalf of Canadian insurance carriers, international insurance carriers, and Lloyd's of London insurance syndicates. GroupAssur is headquartered in Montreal, QC, with additional offices in Quebec City and Brossard, QC, and Markham, Ontario.  For more information, please visit http://www.groupassur.com/.

About Evolution Insurance

Founded in 2008, and operating across Canada with offices in Terrebonne, Quebec city, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary. Evolution Insurance has become an important resource to insurance brokers and is a market of choice for complex risks requiring a different approach and mindset, and a product that is more adapted to our insured's needs. For more information, please visit https://www.evolutioninsurance.ca

About Novacap

Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading Canadian private equity firm with more than C$8B of AUM that has invested in more than 90 platform companies and completed more than 140 add-on acquisitions. Applying its sector-focused approach since 2007 in TMT, Industries and now Financial Services, Novacap's deep domain expertise can accelerate company growth and create long-term value. With experienced, dedicated investment and operations teams as well as substantial funding, Novacap has the resources and knowledge to build world-class businesses. Novacap has offices in Brossard, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit www.novacap.ca.

SOURCE Novacap Management Inc.

Related Links

http://www.novacap.ca