Marsh & McLennan Cos (MMC) said at the weekend that its Marsh broking subsidiary has agreed to acquire the broking operations of UK banking group HSBC Holdings for £135m in cash and MMC stock. The deal to acquire HSBC Insurance Brokers is expected to close during Q1 2010, subject to several regulatory approvals. Alongside the acquisition, Marsh and HSBC have entered into a preferred strategic partnership (PSP) through which Marsh will have preferred access to provide broking services to HSBC's corporate and private banking clients. The PSP "will enable us to leverage HSBC's global network and banking relationships to generate new business", said Marsh chairman and chief executive Dan Glaser. The HSBC broking operation has around 1,400 employees in 30 offices in the UK, Middle East and Asia. Marsh expects the deal to strengthen its business in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. For HSBC, the deal improves "the breadth and sophistication of HSBC broking services for our customers, while at the same time sharpening our strategic focus on the bancassurance model with emphasis on life, pensions and investments", said Clive Bannister, HSBC Holdings' group managing director for insurance.

UK insurer Admiral has sold a 25% shareholding in its new Spanish price comparison website to Mapfre. Rastreator.com was launched in Spain in March 2009 using the blueprint of confused.com, Admiral's price comparison website in the UK. The terms of the transaction, through Mapfre unit Mapfre Familiar, were not disclosed. Antonio Huertas, CEO of Mapfre Familiar, said Rastreator.com "is a very exciting new venture."

Shares in Brit Insurance's new holding company, domiciled in the Netherlands but listed in the UK, have begun trading in London this morning. Brit Insurance Holdings NV has listed 314 million ordinary shares of €1 each on the London Stock Exchange and it is expected to replace Brit as a member of the FTSE 250 index. Existing shareholders in Brit voted in favour of a scheme of arrangement, sanctioned by a court on Friday, which offered them one share in the new company for every Brit share. The old Brit shares have been cancelled. Brit said its move to the Netherlands, announced in March 2009, will provide a more favourable operating environment, and lower taxes, for international development.

Has made its first appointment as the new Netherlands-based holding company of the Brit business. Willem Stevens will join the group as non-executive director. He is a member of the supervisory board of Schiphol Group, TBI Holdings, AZL, Holland Casino and Nederlandse Staatsloterij, and a member of the advisory board of NIVRA (Netherlands Association of Certified Public Auditors).