M&A activity snapshot
Agency deal counts are falling from their peak, but most of what still trades goes to private capital. OPTIS Partners counted 292 insurance agency deals in the first half of 2026, the slowest start to a year since 2016. In the same OPTIS data, second-quarter activity fell 25% to 138 transactions, and property and casualty agencies were 198 of the first-half sellers, or 68%.
Data providers count differently, so name the source. OPTIS, whose database covers the U.S. and Canada, put full-year 2025 at 695 deals, down 12% from 2024. MarshBerry counted 854 announced U.S. brokerage transactions in 2025, the third-most-active year on record and just above 2024's 847. Through July 2026, MarshBerry's count stood at 360 announced U.S. deals, down 8.9% from the same point in 2025.
The seller universe is large and fragmented. The Big "I" estimates 37,000 independent insurance agencies in 2026, averaging 9.9 staff members. OPTIS uses a lower estimate of 25,000 to 30,000 agencies nationally, a majority of which are very small and will have to be sold eventually. This long tail is the seller pool for the serial acquirers described below.
Who is buying
Private-capital-backed platforms dominate. MarshBerry found that private capital-backed buyers accounted for 605 of the 854 transactions (70.8%) in 2025, while independent agencies did 127 deals (14.9%) and public brokerages 52 (6.1%). Through July 2026 the private-capital share rose to 268 of 360 deals, or 74.4%.
The most active buyers are serial acquirers. BroadStreet Partners led with 65 deals in 2025, followed by Inszone with 44 and ALKEME with 42, and the ten most active buyers completed 42.4% of all deals. Not every platform is classic buyout capital: BroadStreet closed a strategic investment from a group led by Ethos Capital, British Columbia Investment Management and White Mountains, with Ontario Teachers' retaining a co-control stake.
The buyer mix is shifting. OPTIS reports that several of the big, most active buyers have significantly cut back, while emerging private equity firms have increased their pace. MarshBerry counts 47 PE- or family office-backed buyers, up nearly 24% year over year.
What buyers look for
Organic growth is the main value driver. MarshBerry states that organic growth remains the biggest valuation differentiator, with buyers rewarding firms that demonstrate consistent new business generation over multiple years. Growth that came from rate increases during the hard market is worth less now that rates are softening.
Buyers break growth into its parts. The Big "I" and Reagan Consulting tie organic growth to four factors: new business, account retention, P&C rates and GDP. The same study treats sales velocity above a 12% threshold as the mark of a healthy sales culture. It also found that in most revenue bands, producers aged 36 to 45 generate the largest share of new business, so buyers look closely at the age of the producer bench.
The asset being bought is the agency's ownership of its expirations, meaning its renewal rights. The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas calls that ownership the essence of the independent agency system. That ownership is what makes an independent agency's renewal stream a saleable asset.
What makes a strong company
Reagan Consulting's Q1 2026 survey of over 180 agencies with median revenue of about $15.5 million found median organic growth of 5.9% and a median EBITDA margin of 29.6%. Those are mid-size, well-run firms. MarshBerry puts average industry EBITDA margins at 15% to 20%, with top independent firms at 25% to 30%+.
A premium agency typically shows:
- Organic growth from new business, not only rate. Reagan's personal-lines median fell from 9.6% in Q1 2025 to 2.5% in Q1 2026 as rate tailwinds faded.
- A producer bench that writes new business without the principal, with succession already in place.
- Clean carrier agreements, ideally with successor clauses that allow assignment with the carrier's consent.
- Current entity licenses in every state where it writes business, with a designated responsible licensed producer named.
- A balanced book with no single carrier or account dominating commissions.
Big "I" Best Practices agencies posted pro forma EBITDA margins of 23.2% to 30.7% and organic growth of 6.2% to 10.2% in 2026, down from an 8.7% to 11.3% growth range in 2025. These figures describe top performers, not the median agency.
Valuation and deal structure
MarshBerry's dataset shows an average upfront base price of 11.50x EBITDA across all firms at the end of 2025, rising to 15.48x with maximum earnout; platform firms averaged 14.34x upfront and up to 18.41x. By Axia's own arithmetic on those MarshBerry averages, the upfront price was about 74% of maximum potential value for all firms and about 78% for platforms. That is a derived ratio, not a MarshBerry figure. These averages skew toward larger, advised transactions.
The full range is wide. MarshBerry says brokerages typically transact at EBITDA multiples from the mid-single digits to the mid-teens. No primary public source Axia verified publishes multiples by size band, so treat the published averages as market data rather than a quote for any single agency. For a rough starting point, see the valuation tool.
The legal form of the deal affects licensing. Idaho, for example, requires changes of ownership or officers to be reported within 30 days and a new entity license if the FEIN changes. An asset sale into a new entity therefore means new licenses and carrier appointments in each state. Carriers also uniformly request notification of the agent's intent to sell.
Outlook
Over the next two years, the rate cycle is the main pressure on values. The CIAB survey found commercial premiums fell an average of 2% in Q2 2026, with commercial property down 6.3%. MarshBerry warns that softening rates and pressure on organic growth could weigh on future multiples.
Large platforms are also reaching exit. In August 2026, Aon agreed to acquire USI Insurance Services from KKR and other shareholders for $17.0 billion. Supply of sellers should stay high: OPTIS expects a very large number of firms will need to sell in the next five to 10 years, although many are small. Agencies that can show new-business growth while rates fall are the ones most likely to hold premium pricing.
Own an insurance agency and want a rough sense of value before any conversation? Run the valuation tool or read what buyers look for in detail. For the wider sector, see the Financial Services M&A overview. See also: why vertical-specific buyers outperform generalists in outbound.