Book quality and retention
Retention by line and by producer, the mix of new and renewal revenue, and how concentrated the book is among a few accounts or programs.
Special focus · Insurance
Sell your insurance agency, MGA or program administrator
Oak Stream Partners is a private investment firm that acquires and invests in insurance distribution businesses with roughly $1–15 million of EBITDA, then builds and executes a plan to grow them after closing.
Why the buyer matters
Selling your insurance business to a buyer who has run one
If you are thinking, “I want to sell my business, but I want it in good hands,” the buyer matters as much as the price. Ryan Addis, Oak Stream’s founder, has spent more than two decades in insurance and financial services, much of it in operating roles.
He has served as Chairman and CEO of SCJ Insurance Services, a national P&C and auto MGA writing more than $150 million of premium through more than 2,100 independent brokers, and as President and COO of DeepFuse.com, a 45-state insurtech agency with more than $175 million of in-force premium. He was an operating partner at ScaleCo, a lower-middle-market private equity firm with an insurance focus, and he led the Oak Stream transaction in which Bryson acquired Altruis Benefit Consulting, a health insurance distribution organization.
That background means we understand carrier appointments, contingent commissions, producer economics, reinsurance and the regulatory work that comes with a change of control, and we can talk with you about them in plain terms.
Insurance is a special focus for Oak Stream, not our only market. We also look at business services, tech-enabled services and other lower-middle-market companies across North America.
What we look for
Insurance businesses
- Independent agencies and brokerages: P&C, benefits and specialty
- Managing general agents and managing general underwriters
- Program administrators and program businesses
- Claims, TPA and other insurance-services companies
- Roughly $1–15M of EBITDA, headquartered in the U.S., Canada or Mexico
Preparing to sell
What buyers look at when you sell an insurance agency
Knowing what a buyer will examine lets you strengthen it before you go to market. These are the areas we, and our capital partners, look at first.
Carrier appointments and capacity
Which carriers you are appointed with or write for, contract terms and change-of-control provisions and, for MGAs and programs, how dependent you are on one capacity provider.
Producers and people
Producer agreements, non-solicits, who owns the book and whether key people will stay. A team that can run the agency without the founder supports value.
Underwriting and loss results
For MGAs and program administrators, loss ratios by program and year and how pricing has responded to experience. Clean, consistent data is persuasive.
Licensing and compliance
Agency and individual licenses, filings where required, complaint history, data privacy and any notices or approvals a transaction may require.
Clean financials
Commission revenue recognition, contingent and profit-sharing income, add-backs and trust accounting, organized before a buyer asks. See our quality of earnings primer.
Process
How selling your business to Oak Stream works
Oak Stream invests deal by deal alongside capital partners rather than from a single committed fund, so the capital is matched to your company.
Confidential conversation
We learn about your agency, your goals and your timing, under an NDA if you prefer.
Letter of intent
After a preliminary review of summary financials, Oak Stream signs an LOI covering price, structure and timing.
Capital partners
Ryan brings the opportunity to the capital partners best suited to it: search fund investors for roughly $1–5M of EBITDA and private equity firms for roughly $3–15M. They typically replace our LOI with their own.
Focused diligence
Financial, legal and operational review, coordinated so your team can keep serving clients and carriers.
Close and build
A planned transition and a value-creation plan built with your team.
More than one capital partner may be interested in a given company, but interest is not a commitment and no transaction is certain to close. We will be candid with you at each step.
Capital partners
Capital matched to the size of your company
Tier 1 Search fund investors
~$1–5M
Tier 2 Private equity firms
~$3–15M
Company EBITDA, approximate. Where the ranges overlap, around $3–5M, either type of capital can fit, and some deals may draw on both.
Tier 1 · Search fund investors
~$1–5M EBITDA
For lower-middle-market companies, we invest alongside an established network of search fund investors and operators: founders and executives behind companies such as Asurion and Oracle, and funds dedicated to the search fund model.
Meet the investor networkTier 2 · Private equity firms
~$3–15M EBITDA
For larger companies, we invest alongside institutional private equity firms, which gives us the capacity for larger transactions and follow-on acquisitions.
How our capital works
More than a sale as-is
A plan for what your agency can become
Investment bankers and business brokers typically market an agency as it is. We bring a view of what it could become: a strategic plan, operating fixes in areas such as producer productivity, carrier mix, service and reporting, and, where it fits, add-on acquisitions of complementary agencies.
That plan, together with Ryan’s experience, vision and relationships, shapes how capital partners see the opportunity. An LOI with Oak Stream has more than one potential source of equity behind it rather than depending on a single firm.
FAQ
Questions owners ask
How much is my insurance agency worth?
Value depends on the quality and growth of the book, retention, margins, carrier relationships and how dependent the agency is on you. We focus on adjusted EBITDA and explain how we reach our number rather than quoting a rule-of-thumb multiple.
What size insurance businesses does Oak Stream buy?
Generally companies with roughly $1–15 million of EBITDA across North America. Search fund investors typically back companies of about $1–5 million of EBITDA, and private equity firms about $3–15 million.
Can I stay on after I sell my agency?
Yes, if you want to. Many owners keep a stake or stay through a transition, while others want a full exit. Structures can include majority recapitalizations, management buyouts and phased transitions.
Will my carriers and producers find out?
Every conversation is confidential. We plan with you when and how to approach carrier partners and key producers, usually after a letter of intent is signed.
What if I am not ready to sell yet?
Our transaction-readiness consulting can help you organize the numbers, strengthen the team and prepare for diligence on your own timeline.
Confidential conversation
Thinking about selling your insurance agency?
Start with a confidential conversation. Call or email, and you will speak directly with Ryan Addis about your agency, your goals and whether there is a fit.
- Call(478) 276-4431
- Emailacquisitions
@oakstreampartners.com - Office hoursMonday–Friday, 9 AM–5 PM Central