After long negotiations, Force financière Excel took over the service fees and pending policies of Montreal-based Langevin Group this fall.

Through this acquisition, Excel also gained close to 70 advisors. The transaction also includes a modest mutual fund portfolio. The parties declined to disclose financial details.

The two firms are not merging. The transaction does not include any exchange of shares and, rather than being integrated, the Langevin staff has received termination papers. "This transaction is spurring our growth in Montreal," James McMahon, president and CEO of Force financière Excel told The Insurance Journal. The MGA has opened an office in Montreal, manned by a new team of four. One member, Frédéric Perman, a former agency director at London Life, is the new regional vice-president, the insurer confirms.

Through this transaction, Mr. McMahon hopes to prove that Excel is more than just a regional MGA. "We’re gaining a presence that we did not have in the non-francophone markets on the island of Montreal. These are growth markets," he points out.

Excel now has eight offices and a distribution force of 1300 advisors. Mr. McMahon says that Langevin’s portfolio was roughly the same size as one of Excel’s large offices in Laval or Quebec City.

Interviewed by The Insurance Journal, the president of Richard Langevin Assurances, Alain Legault, explains that he stopped operations in a context where increasing competition was taking its toll. "That’s why we turned to Excel to take charge of service for the good of our advisors," he explains.