By David Bull, James Thaler

March 28 - (The Insurer) - Advanced talks for Howden Group to acquire Risk Strategies parent Accession Risk Management broke down earlier this week, amid continued interest from other strategic buyers, multiple senior broker sources have said.

The reason behind the breakdown of the potential deal had not been confirmed at the time of publication.

Senior broker sources have said Accession, which is led by John Mina, continues to field interest from other potential strategic acquirers in the U.S. Among those linked is publicly traded intermediary Brown & Brown.

The breakdown of the potential deal comes during what continues to be a challenging financing environment for private equity-backed intermediaries.

As previously reported, London-based Howden has been in talks with the parent of retailer Risk Strategies and wholesaler One80 Intermediaries for months over a potential acquisition that it was suggested could fetch a valuation of around $10 billion.

Howden has been pursuing a major U.S. retail broking acquisition for some time, which is viewed as a precursor to a potential IPO in New York, with the growth opportunity from building out a footprint on the ground in the world’s largest insurance market expected to be a key part of its public pitch.

Earlier this month, a report in the UK from Sky News suggested the David Howden-led company hoped to seal a $10 billion takeover of Risk Strategies in the coming weeks.

That would set it on the path to an eventual public market flotation that could value the group at more than $30 billion.

The report said that Howden was aiming to sign a binding agreement to buy the Kelso-backed Risk Strategies parent by the end of this month.

The acquisition was reportedly set to be financed in part by an equity sale of around $4 billion, with existing Howden investors Mubadala and Hg Capital increasing their holdings.

Barclays and Morgan Stanley were reported to be advising Howden on the talks, with Evercore acting for Kelso and Risk Strategies.

Howden’s most recent raise was in the first quarter of 2023 when it finalised a $500 million seven-year term loan with more than 60 lenders, while also increasing its revolving credit facility from 185 million pounds to 360 million pounds across a range of banking relationships.

Howden benefits from long-term institutional backing from General Atlantic, Hg Capital and CDPQ – the three largest shareholders in the company.

The talks involving Howden and Accession have been taking place against the backdrop of a surge in major M&A activity in the distribution space, including among some of the largest retail brokers.

The Insurer broke the news of Arthur J Gallagher’s $13.5 billion acquisition of AssuredPartners in December, which came on the heels of Marsh’s September 2024 acquisition of McGriff from TIH for $7.75 billion and Aon’s $13 billion deal for NFP, which closed in April 2024.

Howden declined to comment. Accession and Brown & Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.