Synex Business Performance (Synex) has acquired 100 per cent of the shares of Avantages Sociaux Intégrés (ASI), a group insurance and annuity firm founded in 1987. Present in Quebec City and Alma, ASI will be integrated into the firm’s Synex Group Solutions division.
ASI adds more than $25 million to the Synex Group's premium volume, plus a dozen employees who serve more than 400 commercial clients, Synex says.
Previously owned by Orchestro Assurances et Rentes Collectives, Avantages Sociaux Intégrés will keep its name and employees, Yan Charbonneau, President and Chief Vision Officer of Synex, told Insurance Portal. He added that Nancy Turcotte will remain president and Daniel Belley vice-president of ASI.
ASI will continue its business partnership with Orchestro Assurances et Rentes Collectives for the distribution of group products in TPA (Third Party Administration) mode, Charbonneau explains. Orchestro is led by Suzanne Fortin.
According to Synex, ASI's leading-edge expertise enables it to provide personalized assistance to business owners and group administrators in the management of their group insurance and pension plans. The consolidator adds that ASI serves the clients of 100 advisors in Quebec and the Maritimes.
String of acquisitions
The ASI deal follows on the heels of the acquisition of ZLC Employee Benefits Solutions (ZLC EBS) deal in British Columbia on April 11, 2022. This deal hoisted Synex Group Solutions' premium volume by $130 million to $220 million. ASI has increased Synex’s total group insurance premiums to $245 million.
Earlier in 2022, Synex acquired Alliance Avantages sociaux, a group insurance and annuity firm based in Drummondville and Jonquiere. Shortly before that, Synex welcomed a new investor: BBH Capital Partners (BBHCP). As a minority shareholder, BBHCP invested over $100 million to support Synex’s acquisition strategy.
Synex Business Performance is making a series of acquisitions in the P&C insurance industry. On March 22, 2022, it gained a foothold in Ontario through a partnership with Palladium Insurance, similar to the deal it concluded a year earlier with GoToInsure. One week before that, it acquired Quebec City-based André Fradet Assurances. Synex says it has a total premium volume of $710 million, divided between the Synex Insurance and Synex Group Solutions brands. The group owns 18 property and casualty and group insurance brokerage firms across the country.
Strategic acquisition
Yan Charbonneau believes that this acquisition reinforces his strategy of meshing P&C insurance and group insurance in Quebec. “We’re always looking to improve our cross-selling between P&C insurance and group insurance: We're positioning our structure in Quebec, with a presence in the north. ASI is in group insurance in Alma. In P&C insurance, Girard Tremblay et associés covers the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, Alliance Avantages Sociaux has a presence in Jonquière, as does Couture Rochette,” he points out.
Far from slowing down, the pace of acquisitions has been accelerated by the arrival of Synex’s new minority shareholder, BBH Capital Partners. Synex's plans to multiply BBHCP’s $100 million+ injection in the company via its acquisition strategy, Yan Charbonneau says. “This amount, combined with pre-arranged bank financing, lets us make and finance the transaction,” he explains.
Synex's CEO is planning to make one acquisition per week starting this summer. He says not all the transactions will be on the scale of ZLC EBS and its $130 million in premiums. “Our average deal currently ranges between $20 million and $25 million: That's our sweet spot,” he points out.
