Blais Halpert Helps Form Alera Group in Unprecedented M&A Deal

BOSTON — Two dozen independent employee benefits, property/casualty, risk management and wealth management firms have joined with Genstar Capital, LLC to form Alera Group, an independent national insurance brokerage and wealth management firm with over 20,000 clients, $158 million in annual revenues, and more than 750 employees in 40 offices across 15 states. The new firm will be the 14th largest privately held insurance firm and 7th largest privately held employee benefits firm in the U.S. This merger marks the first time that 24 independent firms in this industry have combined forces.

Blais, Halpert, Lieberman & Greene served as tax counsel to the 24 firms in this unprecedented and obviously complex transaction. BHLG served alongside lead corporate counsel Harrington & McCarthy, led by Mike Harrington and John McCarthy, and employee benefits counsel Marathas, Barrow, Weatherhead & Lent, led by Peter Marathas.

The founding insurance and financial services firms within Alera Group:
A&B Insurance and Financial, Inc., Tampa, FL
American Insurance Administrators, Inc., Mechanicsburg, PA
Ardent Solutions, Sugar Land, TX
Beacon Retiree Benefits Group LLC, Plantsville, CT
Benefit Advisors Network, Solon, OH
Benico, Ltd., Huntley, IL
CBP, Stamford, CT
C. M. Smith Agency, Inc., Hartford / Central CT
Centennial, Costa Mesa, CA
Coury Health Services, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
CPI-HR, Solon, OH Forum, Greenville, SC
GCG Financial, Inc., Deerfield, IL/ Greenwood Village, CO
Group Services, Inc., Bettendorf, IA
HMK Insurance, Bethlehem, PA
INGROUP Associates, Inc., Lancaster, PA
JA Counter, New Richmond, WI
Pentra, Inc., Villanova, PA
PWA Insurance Services, Gold River, CA
Relph Benefit Advisors, Fairport, NY
Shirazi Benefits, Greeley, CO
SIG, Baltimore, MD
TRUEbenefits, LLC, Seattle, WA
Virtus Benefits, LLC, Nashville, TN