PE firm supports group’s fourth acquisition in a year

Private equity firm Inflexion has supported the expansion of its portfolio company Bollington Wilson with the acquisition of Bolton-based Watson Laurie, for an undisclosed sum.

Sale-based Bollington Wilson is one of the UK’s leading independent insurance brokers.

The acquisition is its fourth this year, expanding the group’s offering and strengthening the regional presence of its operations.

Watson Laurie is a corporate insurance broker specialising in corporate risks, property and construction, European commercial real estate financing, latent defects insurance, SME schemes and other niches areas.

Inflexion has supported Bollington Wilson to achieve strong organic and acquisition-led growth since it backed the buyout and simultaneous merger of Bollington Insurance Brokers and Wilsons Insurance Brokers to create Bollington Wilson Group in 2017.

Paul Moors, group chief executive of Bollington Wilson, said: “This is a tremendous opportunity to bring together two fantastic businesses.

“We’ve long admired Watson Laurie as an entrepreneurial, well-run insurance broker with an impressive portfolio of specialisms that are highly complementary to our own.

“This acquisition helps to cement our position as one of the UK’s largest independent insurance groups.”

Simon Turner, Inflexion managing partner, said: “We are pleased to be able to support the expansion of Bollington Wilson, with its fourth acquisition in 2020.

“Since our investment in 2017, the group has grown strongly, building out their team, diversifying their offering and creating one of the UK’s leading independent insurance brokers.

“We look forward to continuing to support the group as it pursues its ambitious expansion plans.”

Global operator, Inflexion, has a Manchester office in the city centre’s King Street.

Tony Harper, at Brabners, advised Watson Laurie on the transaction.