Liberty Blume acquires specialist insurance brokerage in first strategic M&A transaction
Liberty Blume, the business solutions company launched last year to deliver a wide range of high-impact tech-enabled services across multiple sectors, has acquired specialist Lloyds of London insurance brokerage PHL Insurance Brokers Ltd in its first strategic M&A transaction.
Already generating over $100 million of annual revenue*, Liberty Blume employs 900 people across seven locations in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. By reinvesting its profits back into its business, Blume expects to deliver double-digit revenue growth in 2025, with ambitious plans to deliver rapid growth over the coming years.
Strategic M&A transactions and strategic partnerships that expand and extend Liberty Blume’s capabilities will form a critical part of the company’s growth strategy. To accelerate and broaden its business, Liberty Blume is currently evaluating a range of strategic acquisitions as it develops its M&A roadmap for the coming years.
The acquisition of PHL Insurance Brokers Ltd. further strengthens Liberty Blume’s Financial Solutions arm, one of four core areas of focus for Liberty Blume. This includes enhancing Liberty Blume’s consumer, commercial and specialist insurance capabilities and accelerate the development of innovative, high-impact insurance products.
Alongside this, the acquisition opens up new insurance markets within Liberty Blume’s current footprint and beyond, building on PHL’s strong track record of delivering tailored insurance solutions with specialisms in financial lines, property and casualty insurance classes on both a wholesale and retail basis.
As well as Financial Solutions, Liberty Blume also offers Business Solutions, offering back-office services that increase operational efficiency, enable scale and deliver results; Procurement Solutions, delivering technology-enabled solutions designed to maximise value from third-party spend, leveraging scale, talent and insight.
Joe Gallagher, Chief Commercial Officer, Liberty Blume, said: “Strategic acquisitions such as this are set to play a crucial role as we continue to scale Liberty Blume, allowing us to diversify, deepen expertise and move even faster to meet rapidly evolving customer needs. We will continue to be proactive in looking at further opportunities to broaden out and enrich the services we offer our customers.”
Aniqa Sandhu, MD, Financial Solutions, Liberty Blume, said: “This marks the start of an exciting chapter for Liberty Blume and our Financial Solutions business in particular as we build capability, expand what we offer and take it to a bigger market. M&A is a critical pillar of our growth strategy and we look forward to making more announcements along similar lines in the coming months.”
Richard Packman, MD, PHL Insurance Brokers, added: “Joining Liberty Blume allows us to continue our legacy of client-first service while gaining access to new resources, expanded carrier relationships, and international reach. The synergies and culture of Liberty Blume fit perfectly with the principles of the PHL directors and we’re delighted to become part of the Liberty family.”
*Represents full year 2024 revenues, substantially all of which is derived from Liberty Global’s operating companies and joint ventures.
