LONDON, Oct. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BGC Partners,
Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP) ("BGC Partners," "BGC" or "the Company"), a
leading global brokerage and financial technology company, today
announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Ed
Broking Group Limited ("Ed"), an independent Lloyd's of
London insurance broker with a
strong reputation across Accident and Health, Aerospace, Cargo,
Energy, Financial and Political Risks, Marine, Professional and
Executive Risk, Property and Casualty, Specialty and
Reinsurance.
Under the terms of the agreement, BGC will acquire 100% of Ed,
which includes broking operations under the Ed brand in UK,
Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Miami
and China; Ed's German marine
broking arm Junge & Co. Versicherungsmakler GmbH; Ed's managing
general agent (MGA) operations Globe Underwriting Limited based in
the UK; and Cooper Gay (France)
SAS, which is based in Paris.
Management comments
[1]
Shaun D. Lynn, President of BGC Partners,
commented on today's announcement: "We are delighted to reach an
agreement to purchase Ed, a leading independent Lloyd's of
London broker with a global
footprint. It will be an important acquisition with respect
to our strategy of building the insurance brokerage division within
the Company".
Mr. Lynn added: "Since the formation of BGC in 2004, BGC has
demonstrated a proven track record of successfully building new
brokerage verticals." BGC acquired Newmark
Knight Frank in 2011. From 2011 to 2017, BGC increased the
annual revenues run-rate of its Real Estate Services business by
more than six times to approximately $1.6
billion. BGC completed the initial public offering of
this business in December 2017
through the IPO of Newmark Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NMRK).
Meanwhile, BGC's Financial Services revenues have nearly
quadrupled from 2004 to 2017.
Steve Hearn, Group CEO of
Ed Broking Group Limited said, "To be able to announce the
agreement with BGC is tremendously satisfying, given their ambition
and appetite for growth. We feel that the best fit and the
strongest future for us is with BGC, one of the leading brokerage
firms in the world. With them, we are poised to make the next leap
forward to redefine insurance broking."
The deal expands BGC's insurance division, which was established
in 2017 with the acquisition of Besso Insurance Group Limited
("Besso"), a Lloyd's broker with operations in UK, Brazil, Dubai
and Turkey. Ed expects to report revenues of around
$100 million in 2018. With the
addition of Ed 's brokers and back office personnel, Ed and Besso
combined are expected to place approximately $2 billion of premium in 2018 and have
approximately 300 combined brokers operating across 10 countries.
Further details of the transaction were not disclosed, and
completion of the transaction is subject to legal and regulatory
approvals and certain closing conditions.
About BGC Partners, Inc.
BGC Partners is a leading global brokerage and financial
technology company. BGC offers Real Estate Services through its
publicly traded subsidiary Newmark Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NMRK)
("Newmark"), a leading full-service commercial real estate services
business. BGC's Financial Services offerings include fixed income
securities, interest rate swaps, foreign exchange, equities, equity
derivatives, credit derivatives, commodities, futures, and
structured products. BGC's Financial Services customers include
many of the world's largest banks, broker-dealers, investment
banks, trading firms, hedge funds, governments, corporations, and
investment firms. BGC, BGC Trader, GFI, Fenics, Fenics Market Data,
Capitalab, and Lucera are trademarks/service marks and/or
registered trademarks/service marks of BGC Partners, Inc. and/or
its affiliates. BGC's common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global
Select Market under the ticker symbol (NASDAQ: BGCP). BGC Partners
is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick. For more information, please
visit http://www.bgcpartners.com. You can also follow BGC at
https://twitter.com/bgcpartners,
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bgc-partners, and/or
http://ir.bgcpartners.com.
Discussion of Forward-Looking Statements about BGC and
Newmark
Statements in this document regarding BGC and Newmark that are
not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Except as
required by law, BGC and Newmark undertake no obligation to update
any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional
risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ
from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see BGC's
and Newmark's Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including, but not limited to, the risk factors set forth in these
filings and any updates to such risk factors contained in
subsequent Forms 10-K, Forms 10-Q or Forms 8-K.
About Ed Broking Group Limited
Ed is a truly global insurance and reinsurance provider with
offices in the world's key regional and global insurance centres.
The group's broking business is a leading independent Lloyd's
broker, and employs some of the best and most experienced people in
the industry with expertise in all major lines of business. The
group's MGA division operates in the UK, France, Australia and Germany.
About Besso Insurance Group Limited
Founded in 1967, Besso offers insurance broking services across
a number of divisions including Property, Casualty, International,
Marine, Aviation, Professional and Financial Risks and Reinsurance.
The firm covers its markets globally from its headquarters in
London, with additional overseas
offices in Turkey, Brazil and Hong
Kong. Please see www.besso.co.uk for more information.
Media Contact:
Harjeet
Singh
+44207894 8829
Investor Contacts:
Jason
McGruder or Ujjal Basu
Roy
+12128294988
[1] 2011 revenues for Real Estate Services based on
the unaudited results for Newmark & Company Real Estate,
Inc. BGC's 2004 revenues ($490.7
million) are for the consolidated Company and trailing
twelve months ended September 30,
2018 are for BGC's Financial Services segment.
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