The insurance firm Howden will acquire consultancy Barnett Waddingham, creating one of the largest pensions and employee benefits consultancies in the U.K., according to a news release.
The acquisition is intended to bring Howden high-quality pension and related advice capability and provide a platform for expansion in global markets. Barnett Waddingham specializes in risk, pensions, investment, and insurance.
A co-owner of Howden is Canadian pension fund Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, Montreal, which had C$434 billion ($327.4 billion) in assets as of Dec. 31.
The acquisition will also double Howden’s global employee benefits business, delivering a combined revenue of around £500 million ($647 million). The combined business will offer employee benefits and pensions advisory services to corporate clients, from multinational corporations to SMEs and in the private and public sectors, and will also provide health, life and specialist pension products to individuals.
“In our journey to build a global broker we recognise the need to create a world-class employee benefits business for our clients,” said David Howden, CEO, Howden, in the news release.
“As we always do, we have waited for the right partner to expand our capabilities, with experts who are entrepreneurial and culturally aligned, and with whom we can do more together. Barnett Waddingham’s people have this in abundance,” he continued.
Howden has $42 billion in premiums under management. As well as Canadian pension fund CDPQ, the firm is owned by 5,200 employee-shareholders, private equity firms General Atlantic and HgCapital, as well as the Howden Foundation. The firm was formerly known as Hyperion.
