Brown & Brown, Inc. Announces the Asset Acquisition of Lapeyre, Staples & Robichaux

J. Scott Penny, Chief Acquisitions Officer of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO), and Chris Lapeyre, Ken Staples and Eldridge Robichaux, today announced that Brown & Brown of Louisiana, LLC, a subsidiary of Brown & Brown, Inc., has acquired substantially all of the assets of Lapeyre, Staples & Robichaux.  

Lapeyre, Staples and Robichaux have each been providing employee benefits insurance solutions for their respective clients for over twenty years in Houma, Louisiana and surrounding areas.  The partners have annual net revenues of approximately $2 million.  Chris, Ken and Eldridge will continue to operate from their Houma, Louisiana location under the direction of Tommy Huval, Regional President of Brown & Brown, Inc.

Tommy Huval stated, “Chris, Ken and Eldridge are fixtures in the southeast Louisiana insurance market, providing client-focused employee benefits insurance products and services.  We are excited to have them join the Brown & Brown of Louisiana team and look forward to them growing with us under the leadership of Mark Romero.”

Mark Romero, Vice President of Brown & Brown of Louisiana, added “Our Employee Benefits team in Louisiana and Mississippi consists of an extremely high-performing group of talented professionals.  We are pleased to have Chris, Ken, and Eldridge and their staff join us as we continue to grow our footprint and deliver an outstanding level of service to our clients.” 

Chris Lapeyre stated, “We are excited to take our business in this new direction.  Joining Brown & Brown was a strategic decision driven by our desire to make a long-term investment in the value we bring to our clients.  We firmly believe this partnership will play a key role in achieving our goal to deliver a comprehensive set of services and solutions to our current and future clients.”

Brown & Brown, Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers a broad range of insurance products and related services.  Additionally, certain Brown & Brown subsidiaries offer a variety of risk management, third-party administration, and other services. Serving business, public entity, individual, trade and professional association clients nationwide, Brown & Brown is ranked by Business Insurance magazine as the United States’ sixth largest independent insurance intermediary. Brown & Brown’s Web address is www.bbinsurance.com.

This press release may contain certain statements relating to future results which are forward-looking statements, including those associated with this acquisition. These statements are not historical facts, but instead represent only Brown & Brown’s current belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Brown & Brown’s control. It is possible that Brown & Brown’s actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Further information concerning Brown & Brown and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect Brown & Brown’s financial results and condition, as well as its other achievements, is contained in Brown & Brown’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors include those factors relevant to Brown & Brown’s consummation and integration of the announced acquisition, including any matters analyzed in the due diligence process, and material adverse changes in the business and financial condition of the seller, the buyer, or both, and their respective customers. All forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this release, and Brown & Brown does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which Brown & Brown hereafter becomes aware.

R. Andrew WattsChief Financial Officer(386) 239-5770