EQT has agreed to acquire a majority stake in McGill and Partners, the London-based specialty insurance and reinsurance broker, for $2bn, taking over from Warburg Pincus. Founder and chief executive Steve Mc Gill, chairman John Lloyd, and the wider workforce will reinvest to retain a meaningful ownership stake alongside the new backer. Mc Gill and Partners was founded in May 2019 as a challenger broker and has scaled to revenues of more than $250m. Warburg Pincus provided the cornerstone investment at Mc Gill and Partners’ founding, backing Steve Mc Gill and a senior team that included John Lloyd, Stephen Cross, and Karl Hennessy.

EQT intends to accelerate that organic growth by recruiting specialty broking talent in key markets, deepening the firm’s technology and data capabilities. “Mc Gill and Partners has established a strong position in specialty insurance broking underpinned by impressive organic growth,” said Matthias Wittkowski, Global Co-Head of Services and Partner at EQT Private Equity. Fellow EQT partner Miriam Tawil highlighted the international runway, and in particular the opportunity to grow the firm’s US and global client base while connecting more business to the Lloyd’s and London market.

Central to the deal is the firm’s all-employee ownership structure, under which every colleague will benefit financially from the transaction. EQT has committed to a new Equity Participation Plan to keep that alignment in place, reserving a significant portion to attract and develop talent over time, both within the firm’s existing specialty areas and beyond.