Insurance Brokerage Deals: LOI Negotiation Done Right
Negotiating LOI Negotiation on insurance brokerage deals, with the structure protection and capital connectivity an independent sponsor actually needs.
Insurance Brokerage deals in the lower middle market run a specific playbook. LOI Negotiation is where the structure either holds or starts to leak.
The typical insurance brokerage platform sits at $10M to $150M EV with EBITDA in the $3M to $25M range. The thesis runs on regional retail agency roll-ups. Producer non-competes are unenforceable in too many states to ignore. Plan retention, not litigation.
How LOI Negotiation actually gets structured.
Cap the exclusivity at 60 days, with one 30-day extension you control.
Name the earnout, the rollover percentage, and the management fee in the LOI itself, not later.
Reserve QofE and rep-and-warranty insurance as buyer expenses, paid at close.
Build a no-shop carve-out for inbound strategic bids above a threshold.
In insurance brokerage, layer in E&O tail insurance priced and bound as part of the LOI Negotiation workstream.
Letting the seller's counsel draft the first LOI. The frame of reference sets every fight that follows.
"An LOI is not a non-binding nicety. It is the deal, in skeleton."Jason Powell · LOI Negotiation
The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.
Most independent sponsors solve the closing capital and then run into the post-close capital problem alone. The capital markets relationships that matter at month 18 are part of this practice.
Related deal pages.
Independent Sponsor Economics for Insurance Brokerage
The package of deal-by-deal carry, management fees, and transaction fees that compensates the independent spo…
Management Fee Structuring for Insurance Brokerage
The annual fee paid by the deal entity to the independent sponsor for ongoing oversight, board service, and p…
Equity Rollover for Insurance Brokerage
The portion of seller proceeds reinvested into the post-close entity, aligning seller with buyer.
Earnout Structures for Insurance Brokerage
Deferred purchase price contingent on post-close performance, used to bridge buyer-seller valuation gaps.
LOI Negotiation for Healthcare Services
roll-up of physician practices and ancillary service lines
LOI Negotiation for Home Services
regional roll-ups of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical operators
An LOI on the desk, a insurance brokerage target, and a LOI Negotiation question worth a real conversation.
Twenty minutes of practitioner-grade input from a securities attorney whose first move is to read the deal, not the engagement letter.