Acordia Inc., Wells Fargo & Co.'s insurance brokerage subsidiary, announced Thursday that it had bought Bodenhafer Insurance and Investment Group, a brokerage with offices in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Indianapolis.
The deal was Acordia's 18th since January 2003 but its first in Indiana in that time. Its terms were not disclosed. The purchase closed July 3.
Bill Niezer, Acordia's managing executive in Fort Wayne, said in an interview Thursday that the purchase adds market share in Indiana. Bodenhafer specializes in employee benefits, which Acordia already offers, he said, and the deal adds scale.
"Bodenhafer was a competitor of ours, and we are better off working together," Mr. Niezer said. "We are one of the main players in northeast Indiana at this time. This deal solidifies our position and adds to it."
Mr. Niezer said Acordia would keep looking for "meaningful" acquisitions nationally. "We are not just looking to make deals for the sake of deals," he said, "but we will continue to acquire in order to meet our strategic goals."
The Bodenhafer agency, founded in 1970, sells insurance to business customers and specializes in employee benefits and estate planning. Its professional staff is to remain with the company in both Fort Wayne and Indianapolis.
Acordia, which is based in Chicago, is the world's fifth-largest insurance brokerage and the largest bank-owned operation in the United States; it has more than 150 offices in 38 states. Its 4,500 insurance professionals place more than $8.5 billion of risk premiums a year.
