The combination will surpass $2B in revenue with deepened specialty and middle-market strengths

Insurance News

By Insurance Business

Dec 02, 2025Share

The Baldwin Group has agreed to merge with CAC Group in a landmark transaction that will combine two fast-growing US brokerages into what is expected to become the largest majority colleague-owned, publicly traded insurance broker in the country.

In an announcement, Baldwin revealed that the transaction includes $1.026 billion in upfront consideration, split between $438 million in cash and 23.2 million Baldwin common shares valued at $589 million.

The deal also features up to $250 million in performance-based earnouts and a $70 million deferred payment, further expanding the potential value of the merger. The companies expect the deal to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

The merger brings together Baldwin’s national middle-market distribution footprint with CAC’s fast-growing specialty expertise. Together, the combined entity is projected to generate more than $2 billion in gross revenue and over $470 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2026.

Baldwin said the transaction is expected to be over 20% accretive to 2025 adjusted EPS, excluding one-time costs, and will be net-leverage neutral at closing, supporting the firm’s balance sheet strategy through 2028.

Deepening specialty expertise driving mega M&A deals

CAC brings a robust portfolio of specialty capabilities, expanding Baldwin’s Insurance Advisory Solutions segment into sectors such as natural resources, private equity, real estate, senior living, education, and construction.

On the product side, CAC enhances Baldwin’s offerings in financial lines, transactional liability, cyber, and surety, supported by CAC’s proprietary data and analytics platform.

The combined platform will also integrate Baldwin’s reinsurance, MGA, and technology operations, giving specialists more distribution and product development capabilities.

Together, the firms will have nearly 5,000 colleagues across all major US markets, serving clients through retail, specialty, MGA, and reinsurance channels.

Trevor Baldwin, CEO of The Baldwin Group, called the merger a major milestone.

“This is a transformational moment for The Baldwin Group,” he said. “By uniting CAC’s deep specialty capabilities with Baldwin’s scale and diversified platform, we create a stronger, more balanced organization that delivers exceptional solutions for clients and unmatched opportunities for colleagues.”

CAC Group CEO Erin Lynch framed the move as an acceleration of the company’s specialty-driven growth model.

“Coming together with Baldwin gives us the scale and infrastructure to accelerate everything that makes CAC distinctive,” Lynch said. “This merger positions us to deliver more for clients and create expanded opportunities for colleagues, while staying true to the values that have fueled our growth.”

Baldwin will host a webcast and conference call at 8:30 am ET on December 3 to discuss the transaction.

Where does the Baldwin-CAC merger stack up against national brokers?

From a scale perspective, the merged Baldwin-CAC entity will still sit well below the global mega-brokers but firmly within the upper tier of US intermediaries.

Marsh McLennan, Aon, Arthur J. Gallagher, and WTW continue to dominate the global broker rankings, with 2024 revenues of roughly $24.5 billion, $15.7 billion, $11.3 billion, and $9.9 billion, respectively, according to recent filings. Alliant, Hub International, Brown & Brown, Acrisure, Lockton and Howden each report multi-billion-dollar brokerage revenue as well.

By contrast, Baldwin has reported around $1.39 billion in US brokerage revenue in 2024. CAC has separately disclosed that its revenues grew to approximately $263 million in 2023 and are expected to approach $295 million for 2024.

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