Insurance M&A Insights: Market Opportunities for Buyers and Sellers

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The insurance industry saw a spike in M&A activity in 2016, with deal volume reaching a peak of more than $100 billion in the U.S., almost double that of the year prior according to PitchBook data.^₁

While the market hasn’t nearly reached that level again, the industry has seen continued growth in M&A deal volume from 2017 through 2018—a trend the market is likely to continue in the year ahead, with opportunities for both buyers and sellers amid insurance industry evolutions.

A wide range of ongoing economic factors have contributed to a steady rise in insurance deal volume and suggest a sustained level of deal activity for the year ahead—from new and emerging business models to record levels of dry powder for private equity, and from advancements in Insurtech to a focus on specialty insurers. In the U.S. specifically, the transformation of healthcare to a value-based care system is impacting all industries that touch the health ecosystem, including insurers.

With so many dynamics in play in the already-consolidating insurance industry, buyers and sellers have individual definitions of value, whether that means broadening capabilities or divesting non-core business assets and units. Savvy insurers, agents and brokers can take steps now to understand the M&A opportunities the market presents and how to best prepare to take advantage of them.

¹ See data tables provided by PitchBook, updated as of 11/7/2018.