Cleveland insurance agencies merge
The two largest independent insurance agencies in Cleveland, Tennessee, announced Monday they have combined operations under the ownership of the Chattanooga-based RSS Insurance.
McIntire Insurance and Insurance Incorporated, which both trace their roots back to the 1940s, are coming together in a single office under the Insurance Incorporated banner, which is a division of RSS Insurance. The combined agency will have about 25 employees and marks the third acquisition of an insurance agency in Cleveland by the growing RSS agency.
“We’ve always had a competitive but friendly relationship with Bob [McIntire] and his team at McIntire Insurance,” Davis Morelock, president at Insurance Incorporated, said in an announcement of the sale of his agency Monday. “Coming together like this, to serve our clients better, just makes sense.”
Morelock, who will serve as managing partner of the Cleveland office, said consolidating with another agency will help better serve clients with more agents and staff and achieve some economies of scale. Although Insurance Incorporated is selling the business, the name will continue to be Insurance Inc. and the combined agency will be housed in the firm’s Georgetown Road office in Cleveland.
What began as Hyde Insurance in 1940 merged with various agencies, becoming Insurance Incorporated in 1963. The merger of Insurance Inc. and Cleveland Insurance in 1980 moved the business to its current location, continuing to operate as Insurance Incorporated
Similarly, McIntire Insurance traces its roots to 1948 with Cornutt Insurance. Both companies have been serving Cleveland and the Bradley County area for eight decades.
“Cleveland is growing, and we’re growing along with it to offer more products, resources and customer service the clients of McIntire Insurance and Insurance Incorporated have come to expect,” McIntire said in a statement. “Our goal is always to provide our customers with the best locally owned and operated, full-service insurance agency. This coming together with Insurance Incorporated allows us to continue the legacy and benefits our loyal and new customers alike.”
The merger comes less than a year after Landmark, which sold to RSS nearly four years ago, acquired McIntire Associates under the McIntire name. Bob McIntire, who started McIntire Insurance with his father, Bill, in 1981, merged his agency with Landmark as a division of RSS last October, and he and his staff will now be a part of the RSS-owned Insurance Incorporated.
“When we brought Landmark Insurance and McIntire and Associates together to form McIntire Insurance, the same goal we had then is true today,” Jordia Waller, a principal at McIntire Insurance, said in Monday’s announcement. “We’re growing with our community to offer the most extensive selection of insurance products offered by those with the greatest expertise and years of experience … oh, and we happen to be the same neighbors you’ve turned to for your insurance needs for decades.”
The merger closed Friday and follows a record year for mergers and acquisitions of independent insurance brokerage agencies in the United States.
Last year, there were 1,034 announced insurance agency mergers and acquisitions, up 30% from the 795 reported in 2020, according to OPTIS Partners’ North American Agent & Broker 2021 Year-End Merger & Acquisition Report.
“If 2020 was a boom year for mergers and acquisitions, 2021 was a virtual explosion,” said Steve Germundson, partner at OPTIS Partners.