EQT to Acquire Majority Stake in McGill and Partners in $2B Deal
EQT has agreed to acquire a majority stake in specialty insurance and reinsurance broker McGill and Partners from Warburg Pincus for $2 billion.
The investment will be made through EQT X, one of the private equity firm’s flagship funds. Warburg Pincus will sell its entire equity stake, ending a partnership that began when the firm backed McGill and Partners’ launch in 2019.
Founder and CEO Steve McGill will continue to lead the London-based company, while Chairman John Lloyd will remain actively involved. Both executives will retain significant shareholdings alongside the firm’s broader employee base, which also will participate financially in the transaction through McGill and Partners’ employee-ownership structure.
EQT said it will support the broker’s organic growth and global expansion through specialty-talent recruitment, investments in technology and data, and further development of digital solutions. The firm said McGill and Partners will retain its independent, entrepreneurial operating model.
McGill and Partners was founded in May 2019 by McGill, Lloyd, Stephen Cross and Karl Hennessy. In seven years, it has grown into a global specialty broker with revenue exceeding $250 million, more than 600 employees in seven countries and more than 1,000 insurance and reinsurance clients.
“Our vision was to build an independent [re]insurance broker defined by its unparalleled expertise, cutting-edge technology and an absolute focus on sophisticated clients who wanted an innovative approach to their larger or more complex risk,” McGill said.
EQT has committed to establish a new equity participation plan that will give every employee an opportunity to share in the company’s future growth. A significant portion of the plan will be reserved for recruiting and expanding the firm’s specialty talent base.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
McGill and Partners was advised by Evercore, Perella Weinberg, Freshfields and Unity Advisory on the transaction. Management was advised by Mayer Brown and Liberty Corporate Finance. Ardea Partners served as exclusive financial advisor and Clifford Chance served as legal counsel to EQT.