McGill and Partners Staff to Share in EQT's $2bn Insurance Broker Deal
Key Takeaways
- •McGill and Partners has agreed to a $2bn (£1.48bn) investment from Swedish private equity firm EQT.
- •The firm, founded in 2019, has grown to revenues of more than $250m with 600 employees across seven countries.
- •EQT is buying the broker from Warburg Pincus, which is exiting after roughly six years of ownership.
- •All 600 employees will financially benefit from the deal under the firm's all-employee equity participation structure.
- •The transaction follows other recent private equity moves in the sector, including Aon's $17bn deal to acquire USI from KKR.
Speciality London-based reinsurance broker McGill and Partners has agreed to a $2bn (£1.48bn) investment by private equity giant EQT.
Founded in May 2019 by industry leaders Steve McGill and John Lloyd, the firm handles high risks for corporate and institutional clients. In seven years, the broker has grown revenues to more than $250m and expanded across seven countries, employing 600 people.
EQT, headquartered in Sweden, is acquiring McGill from its backer, Wall Street heavyweight Warburg Pincus, which helped former Aon group president Steve McGill launch the broker. The transaction ends the two firms' partnership, with Warburg Pincus exiting after a roughly six-year hold typical of private equity ownership cycles.
EQT said it is committed to the firm's equity participation plan as part of its "progressive approach to culture", meaning all 600 employees will financially benefit from the deal as a result of McGill and Partners' all-employee ownership structure. Steve McGill and chairman John Lloyd will continue to lead the firm.
McGill hailed the deal as a "significant milestone" for the City firm. "To have turned what was merely an idea seven years ago into a $2bn global specialty enterprise is an achievement we are all incredibly proud of," he said. "We have built our firm person-by-person and client-by-client, creating a business powered by the most exceptional talent ever assembled at scale in this industry."
Miriam Tawil, partner at EQT, said the firm plans to use the investment to fuel further organic growth, targeting a larger share of the US and international markets while deepening ties to the Lloyd's of London market, the world's largest insurance market.
Private equity firms favour insurance brokers and managing general agents (MGAs) because they are capital-light and often generate highly recurring revenue. That appetite has fuelled a broader wave of consolidation across the sector, with independent and specialty brokers repeatedly attracting competing bids from financial investors.
The deal is the latest in a string of private equity moves in the sector. In May 2025, US insurance brokerage Acrisure announced a $2.1bn capital raise from Bain Capital. Earlier this week, professional services giant Aon agreed to acquire American insurance brokerage USI from investment giant KKR for $17bn (£12.6bn).
