Quick Answer
Colorado insurance agencies sell for 2-3.5x SDE or 1.0-1.8x revenue at the sub-$1M EBITDA personal-lines tier, 7-10x EBITDA or 2.0-3.0x revenue at $1M-$5M EBITDA regional-aggregator scale, 10-14x EBITDA at $5M+ platform-quality, and 11-14x EBITDA (with outliers to 18-20x) for specialty MGAs and wholesale brokers. OPTIS Partners tracked 695 insurance agency and broker transactions in 2025, down roughly 12% from 787 in 2024, with private-equity-backed and hybrid buyers at 73% (OPTIS Partners, January 2026). Active acquirers of Colorado agencies include Acrisure, AssuredPartners, Risk Strategies, NFP, BroadStreet, and Higginbotham. Critical regulatory note: insurance Form A change-of-control approval applies to CARRIERS, NOT to agency book sales.
Selling your insurance agency in Colorado in 2026 clears 2-3.5x SDE or 1.0-1.8x revenue at the sub-$1M personal-lines tier, 7-10x EBITDA or 2.0-3.0x revenue at $1M-$5M regional-aggregator scale, 10-14x EBITDA at $5M+ platform quality, and 11-14x (with outliers to 18-20x) for specialty MGAs and wholesalers. Acrisure, AssuredPartners, Risk Strategies, NFP, and BroadStreet are all actively acquiring Colorado agencies. Carrier appointment transferability is the single biggest gating factor.
Christoph Totter · Managing Partner, CT Acquisitions
Lower middle market M&A across professional services, commercial services, home services, and IT · Updated August 2026
Insurance agency M&A is the most mature roll-up in US services, and that matters if you own an agency in Colorado. OPTIS Partners tracked 695 insurance agency and broker M&A transactions in 2025, down roughly 12% from 787 in 2024, with private-equity-backed and hybrid buyers accounting for 73% of acquisitions (OPTIS Partners, Agency & Broker Buyer report, January 2026). The structural reasons are simple: renewal-commission revenue is the most defensible cash flow profile in any services business, the commission-renewal annuity model is real and durable, and 60%+ of independent agency principals lack a written perpetuation plan (Reagan Consulting).
This guide covers what a Colorado insurance agency is worth in 2026 and how to sell it well. We walk through 2024-2026 multiples by revenue and EBITDA tier, the recurring-commission premium and contingent-commission normalization buyers underwrite, the named PE-backed consolidators acquiring across the US with CURRENT ownership detail (Acrisure to Bain, AssuredPartners to Gallagher, Risk Strategies to Brown & Brown, NFP to Aon, BroadStreet to Ethos / BCI / White Mountains, Higginbotham employee-owned with Stone Point / Blackstone minority), the sub-vertical mechanics (personal lines, commercial, employee benefits, specialty MGA / wholesale / program admin), the Colorado Division of Insurance agency-license and producer-license framework, and the deal mechanics specific to agency sales in Colorado, including carrier-appointment re-papering, contingent commission stabilization, book-retention earnouts, E&O tail coverage, and the critical regulatory clarification that Form A change-of-control approval applies to CARRIERS, not to agency book sales.
CT Acquisitions runs confidential, buy-side processes. We are not a business broker, the buyer pays our fee, and a Colorado seller pays no commission, no retainer, and signs no exclusivity contract. For broader context, see our insurance agency hub guide and the lower middle market buyer mandate report. The free valuation survey takes about three minutes.
Insurance agency and broker M&A multiples in 2024-2026 remain elevated. OPTIS Partners’ M&A Database tracked 695 insurance agency and broker transactions in 2025, down roughly 12% from 787 in 2024, with private-equity-backed and hybrid buyers accounting for 73% of acquisitions (OPTIS Partners, January 2026). Tiering for a Colorado agency looks like this: sub-$1M EBITDA personal-lines and small commercial books trade at 2-3.5x SDE on a revenue-multiple basis.
Insurance agency and broker M&A multiples in 2024-2026 remain elevated. OPTIS Partners’ M&A Database tracked 695 insurance agency and broker transactions in 2025, down roughly 12% from 787 in 2024, with private-equity-backed and hybrid buyers accounting for 73% of acquisitions (OPTIS Partners, January 2026). Tiering for a Colorado agency looks like this: sub-$1M EBITDA personal-lines and small commercial books trade at 2-3.5x SDE on a revenue-multiple basis (typically 1.0-1.8x revenue), $1M-$5M EBITDA regional-aggregator targets trade at 7-10x EBITDA (typically 2.0-3.0x revenue), $5M+ EBITDA platform-quality assets trade at 10-14x EBITDA, and specialty MGA / wholesale / program-admin books trade at 11-14x EBITDA with outliers reaching 18-20x. Sica Fletcher reported an average of 11.8x EBITDA across insurance agency and broker transactions in the first half of 2025, which frames where a well-built Colorado book can land. The headline driver is recurring commission revenue, and a renewable book revenue mix above 90% is the industry standard and the buyer-underwriting baseline.
| Colorado insurance agency profile | Typical multiple | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Sub-$1M EBITDA personal-lines / small commercial | 2-3.5x SDE / 1.0-1.8x revenue | Personal-lines exposure, retention below 85%, no commercial book |
| $1M-$5M EBITDA regional aggregator target | 7-10x EBITDA / 2.0-3.0x revenue | Commercial-lines mix above 60%, 90%+ retention, producer bench |
| $5M+ EBITDA platform-quality | 10-14x EBITDA | Multi-line balance, specialty / MGA component, carrier-appointment depth |
| Specialty MGA / wholesale / program admin | 11-14x EBITDA (outliers to 18-20x) | Binding authority, underwriting margin participation, specialty book |
| Headline PE platform recap | $13B+ EV (AssuredPartners to Gallagher 2025, $13.45B) | The platform multiple, the arbitrage tuck-in sellers feed |
The pattern that matters for a Colorado seller: the platform-versus-tuck-in arbitrage is meaningful. A $2M-EBITDA regional book tucks in at 7-9x EBITDA, but the platform itself re-trades at 13-18x+ EBITDA at the next PE recap. Acrisure’s $32B Bain Capital-led recap, AssuredPartners’ sale to Gallagher for $13.45B in 2025, Risk Strategies’ sale to Brown & Brown in 2025, and BroadStreet Partners’ recap by Ethos Capital, BCI and White Mountains in 2024 are illustrative of the platform multiple.
Colorado insurance agencies trade above generic services businesses because commission renewal is the most defensible cash flow in the trades-and-services universe. The renewal-commission annuity is real: standard book retention runs 85-95% year over year on personal lines, 90%+ on commercial, and 95%+ on employee benefits with embedded plan administration. Three reasons agency revenue commands a premium: predictability, fiduciary trust, and margin economics.
Colorado insurance agencies trade above generic services businesses because commission renewal is the most defensible cash flow in the trades-and-services universe. The renewal-commission annuity is real: standard book retention runs 85-95% year over year on personal lines, 90%+ on commercial, and 95%+ on employee benefits with embedded plan administration. Three reasons agency revenue commands a premium: predictability (commission renewals compound on the carrier’s book without re-sale), fiduciary trust (clients rarely move their book mid-policy term), and margin economics (an agency book added to a $100M+ platform drops 35-45% of incremental commission to EBITDA because carrier appointments, compliance and back office are already sunk). Specialty MGA and program-admin books carry even higher premiums because of binding authority and underwriting margin participation. Colorado adds a specific wrinkle here: property-casualty books along the Front Range carry wildfire and hail catastrophe exposure that buyers underwrite for loss-ratio volatility and carrier-appetite risk, so a Colorado agency with documented, stable retention through recent catastrophe seasons defends its renewal annuity more convincingly than a comparable book elsewhere.
Adjusted EBITDA in Colorado agency sales is dominated by owner-compensation normalization, production overrides not yet billed, and contingent commission recognition. Buyers normalize the principal’s W-2 to fair-market levels (typically $200K-$350K depending on book size and producer role) and add back the excess draw, the single largest line item moving value. Beyond that, PE buyers scrutinize contingent and profit-sharing carrier commissions, runoff commission obligations, and validation of the carrier appointment portfolio.
Adjusted EBITDA in Colorado agency sales is dominated by owner-compensation normalization, production overrides not yet billed, and contingent commission recognition. Buyers normalize the principal’s W-2 to fair-market levels (typically $200K-$350K depending on book size and producer role) and add back the excess draw, the single largest line item moving value. Beyond that, PE buyers scrutinize: contingent / profit-sharing carrier commissions (typically valued at trailing-3-year average, discounted for sustainability), runoff commission obligations to retiring producers, and validation of the carrier appointment portfolio (carrier-by-carrier renewal-commission run-rate). The typical add-back stack lifts reported EBITDA by 15-30% on owner-operated agencies. For Colorado P&C books, contingent and profit-sharing arrangements are especially sensitive to Front Range hail and wildfire loss ratios, so those carrier relationships need explicit trailing-3-year normalization in the data room rather than a single strong or weak year presented as the run-rate.
Insurance agency consolidation is the most mature roll-up in services, with private-equity-backed and hybrid buyers accounting for 73% of 2025 agency M&A acquisitions (OPTIS Partners, January 2026). The platform-versus-tuck-in arbitrage is meaningful: a $2M-EBITDA regional book tucks in at 7-9x EBITDA, but the platform itself re-trades at 13-18x+ EBITDA at the next PE recap. That gap is exactly what a Colorado seller is feeding when a well-built book tucks into a national platform.
Insurance agency consolidation is the most mature roll-up in services, with private-equity-backed and hybrid buyers accounting for 73% of 2025 agency M&A acquisitions (OPTIS Partners, January 2026). The platform-versus-tuck-in arbitrage is meaningful: a $2M-EBITDA regional book tucks in at 7-9x EBITDA, but the platform itself re-trades at 13-18x+ EBITDA at the next PE recap. Acrisure’s $32B Bain Capital-led recap, AssuredPartners’ sale to Gallagher for $13.45B, Risk Strategies’ sale to Brown & Brown in 2025, and BroadStreet Partners’ recap by Ethos Capital, British Columbia Investment Management and White Mountains in 2024 are illustrative of the platform multiple. For a Colorado agency, the gap is driven by carrier-appointment scale, specialty MGA / wholesale capability, cross-sell economics across personal-commercial-benefits-specialty, and platform technology that lifts producer productivity across a Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs footprint.
Active 2024-2026 US insurance agency consolidators split between PE-backed national platforms and strategic brokers, and all of them acquire in Colorado. Among the most active are Acrisure (Bain Capital-led $32B recap, the largest PE-backed insurance broker in the US), Hub International, Alera Group, AssuredPartners (now Gallagher, $13.45B 2025), Risk Strategies (now Brown & Brown 2025), NFP (now Aon, $13.4B 2024), BroadStreet, and Higginbotham. Insurance Form A change-of-control approval applies to CARRIERS, not to agency book sales.
Active 2024-2026 US insurance agency consolidators split between PE-backed national platforms and strategic brokers, and all of them acquire in Colorado. Among the most active are: Acrisure (Bain Capital-led $32B recap, the largest PE-backed insurance broker in the US), Hub International (Hellman & Friedman, Altas Partners, Leonard Green and Apax Partners), Alera Group (Genstar Capital and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec), AssuredPartners (acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. for $13.45B in 2025, ending the GTCR / Apax / CVC ownership era), Risk Strategies Company (acquired by Brown & Brown in 2025, ending the Accel-KKR / Kelso era), BroadStreet Partners (recapped by Ethos Capital, BCI and White Mountains Insurance Group in 2024), Higginbotham (the largest employee-owned independent broker in the US, with Stone Point Capital and Blackstone as minority investors), Inszone Insurance Services (BHMS Investments-backed), USI Insurance Services (KKR), NFP (acquired by Aon in 2024 for $13.4B), Patriot Growth Insurance Services (Summit Partners and GI Partners), Keystone Insurers Group (Warburg Pincus), Foundation Risk Partners (Partners Group), Relation Insurance (Aquiline Capital), World Insurance Associates (Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Charlesbank Capital Partners), Heffernan Insurance Brokers, and the publicly-traded consolidators Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG, post-AssuredPartners), Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC), Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO, post-Risk Strategies), Aon (NYSE: AON, post-NFP), and Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WTW). Critical regulatory correction for a Colorado seller: insurance department Form A change-of-control approval applies to INSURANCE CARRIERS, NOT to agency book sales. A Colorado agency stock sale generally requires only carrier-appointment re-papering and Colorado Division of Insurance agency-license amendments, NOT carrier-style Form A approval.
Buyers value insurance agency sub-verticals on a clear hierarchy. Personal-lines-heavy books with strong retention trade at 2-3.5x SDE / 7-9x EBITDA but with the lowest growth ceiling because direct-to-consumer and embedded digital channels compress margin year over year. Commercial-lines books trade at 7-11x EBITDA with the strongest mid-market bid. Employee benefits books trade at 8-12x EBITDA, and specialty MGAs / wholesale brokers trade at 11-14x EBITDA with outliers to 18-20x.
Buyers value insurance agency sub-verticals on a clear hierarchy. Personal-lines-heavy books with strong retention trade at 2-3.5x SDE / 7-9x EBITDA but with the lowest growth ceiling because direct-to-consumer and embedded digital channels (GEICO, Lemonade, Root, Hippo) compress margin year over year. Commercial-lines books trade at 7-11x EBITDA with the strongest mid-market bid, and lower-middle-market commercial (generally $5K-$50K average premium per account) is the sweet spot for PE-backed platforms. Employee benefits books trade at 8-12x EBITDA on the recurring-administration and brokerage commission base, with platforms valuing the plan-administration revenue separately at 10-12x. Specialty MGAs / program administrators / wholesale brokers trade at 11-14x EBITDA with outliers reaching 18-20x for binding-authority operations with embedded underwriting margin participation (Ryan Specialty, Amwins, RPS, RT Specialty). In Colorado specifically, wildfire, hail, and mountain-property risk have grown the surplus-lines and specialty segment, so a Colorado agency with genuine excess-and-surplus or program capability tends to attract the top of the range rather than a personal-lines-only tuck-in bid.
Before going to market, start with our insurance agency business valuation guide to place your multiple.
What is your Colorado insurance agency actually worth?
CT Acquisitions runs a confidential, buy-side process across the active PE-backed insurance broker platforms. No broker commission, no retainer, no exclusivity contract, the buyer pays our fee.
Colorado is a growth insurance M&A market anchored by a diversified Front Range commercial base across Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins, with a healthy mix of personal, commercial, and specialty lines. Wildfire and hail catastrophe exposure shapes the P&C market and lifts demand for surplus-lines and specialty capability. The Colorado Division of Insurance issues the resident agency (business entity) license and individual resident producer licenses, and a change of agency ownership triggers an entity license update.
Colorado is a growth insurance M&A market anchored by a diversified Front Range commercial base across Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins, with a healthy mix of personal, commercial, and specialty lines. The Denver metro carries the bulk of the state’s commercial-lines premium, while Boulder and Fort Collins add technology, life-science, and university-adjacent commercial accounts, and Colorado Springs brings defense, aerospace, and healthcare exposures. Wildfire and hail catastrophe exposure is a defining feature of the Colorado P&C market, which both hardens property pricing and lifts demand for surplus-lines and specialty capability, an advantage for agencies that have built that book. National acquirers including Acrisure, Hub, Alera, USI, NFP-Aon, and Higginbotham are active across the Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs corridor. The Colorado Division of Insurance, housed within the Department of Regulatory Agencies, issues the resident agency (business entity) license and individual resident producer licenses; a change of agency ownership requires updating the business entity license to reflect new ownership and control. Colorado has also restricted producer non-competes under recent statute, so retention covenants must be structured as narrowly drafted client non-solicits and trade-secret protection rather than broad non-competes.
Insurance agencies are regulated primarily at the state level. In Colorado, the Division of Insurance requires a resident agency (business entity) license and individual resident producer licenses for each selling agent, with separate property-casualty, life-accident-health and surplus-lines lines of authority where applicable. A change of agency ownership generally triggers a business entity license update with the Colorado Division of Insurance, not a carrier-style Form A change-of-control approval. Carrier appointments must be re-papered carrier-by-carrier.
Insurance agencies are regulated primarily at the state level. In Colorado, the Division of Insurance requires a resident agency (business entity) license and individual resident producer licenses for each selling agent, with separate property-casualty, life-accident-health and surplus-lines lines of authority where applicable. Non-resident agency licenses are issued through reciprocal NAIC compact arrangements for multi-state operations that reach beyond Colorado. A change of agency ownership (stock sale) generally triggers a Colorado Division of Insurance business entity license update to reflect the new ownership and control, not a carrier-style Form A change-of-control approval. Carrier appointments must be re-papered carrier-by-carrier, and this is the most operationally intensive workstream in a Colorado agency sale, routinely taking 60-120 days post-close for carriers requiring full underwriting re-approval of the new ownership. Errors-and-omissions (E&O) coverage is written on a claims-made basis, so the acquirer typically does NOT assume the seller’s pre-close professional liability, and Extended Reporting Coverage (tail) is mandatory at a typical five-to-seven-year minimum, costing 100-300% of annual premium paid upfront at closing. For surplus-lines and specialty MGAs, additional Colorado surplus-lines broker licensing and state-by-state binding authority filings apply.
A Colorado insurance agency sale triggers three sequential regulatory workstreams that gate close. First, a Colorado Division of Insurance business entity agency-license update to reflect the new ownership. Second, and this is the binding operational gating item, carrier-by-carrier appointment re-papering, which routinely takes 60-120 days post-close depending on the carrier’s change-of-ownership underwriting process. Third, individual producer-license maintenance for each selling agent, including Colorado continuing-education compliance through the transition. A critical clarification often missed: insurance department Form A change-of-control approval is a CARRIER regulation, NOT an agency-book-sale regulation. A Colorado agency stock sale generally requires only the business entity license update and carrier-appointment re-papering, not carrier-style Form A approval. For Colorado agencies with surplus-lines or specialty MGA operations, additional surplus-lines broker licensing and state-by-state binding authority filings apply.
Insurance agency deal mechanics center on five items distinct from generic services. First, carrier-by-carrier appointment re-papering is the binding operational gating item, plan 60-120 days post-close. Second, contingent / profit-sharing commission stabilization, underwritten at trailing-3-year average with a sustainability discount. Third, producer non-compete and non-solicit enforceability, which Colorado has restricted by statute. Fourth, E&O tail coverage at 5-7 years minimum. Fifth, book-retention earnouts at 90%+ retention at month 24.
Insurance agency deal mechanics center on five items distinct from generic services. First, carrier-by-carrier appointment re-papering is the binding operational gating item, plan 60-120 days post-close for full carrier transition. Second, contingent / profit-sharing commission stabilization, where buyers underwrite the trailing-3-year average with a sustainability discount, a point that matters in Colorado where Front Range hail and wildfire loss ratios can swing a single year of profit-sharing. Third, producer non-compete and non-solicit enforceability is state-specific, and Colorado has sharply restricted producer non-competes by statute, so client non-solicits and trade-secret protection carry the retention load instead. Fourth, E&O tail coverage at 5-7 years minimum at 100-300% of annual premium is a real seller cost that must be modeled into the deal, because the acquirer does not assume claims-made pre-close liability. Fifth, book-retention earnouts at 90%+ retention at month 24 (industry benchmark per Reagan Consulting) gate 40-60% of consideration. Equity rollover by selling principals at 20-40% of proceeds into platform equity is standard and captures the second-bite multiple expansion at the next PE recap. Letter of intent to close typically runs 90-120 days with carrier re-appointment and producer-license re-papering as parallel critical-path items for a Colorado agency.
The structural seller-side fuel under the 2024-2026 agency M&A wave is producer-demographic aging. Industry data shows the average independent insurance agency principal is in their late 50s to early 60s, and Reagan Consulting’s annual succession-readiness surveys consistently show 60%+ of agencies lack a written perpetuation plan. Internal succession is rare because next-generation producers rarely have personal capital to buy founders out at fair-market multiples, so a Colorado owner facing that gap often turns to a PE-backed national buyer.
The structural seller-side fuel under the 2024-2026 agency M&A wave is producer-demographic aging. Industry data shows the average independent insurance agency principal is in their late 50s to early 60s, and Reagan Consulting’s annual succession-readiness surveys consistently show 60%+ of agencies lack a written perpetuation plan. Internal succession is rare because next-generation producers rarely have personal capital to buy founders out at fair-market multiples, and the producer-commission structure makes equity-financed buyouts difficult. PE-backed national consolidators solve liquidity by writing a check today versus a 7-10 year internal note, plus equity rollover for producers who want to stay, which is exactly why 695 transactions closed in 2025 (OPTIS Partners) and why Colorado owners along the Front Range are engaging buyers now while the pipeline remains active.
National advisors who treat an insurance agency as a generic services business will miss the levers that materially move price for a Colorado seller: the renewal-commission book retention rate documented carrier-by-carrier; the contingent commission and profit-sharing trailing-3-year normalization; the carrier-appointment portfolio depth and re-papering timeline; the producer non-compete and non-solicit enforceability, which Colorado has restricted by statute; the E&O claims-made tail coverage cost; and the Form A clarification.
National advisors who treat an insurance agency as a generic services business will miss the levers that materially move price. The renewal-commission book retention rate and how it is documented carrier-by-carrier; the contingent commission and profit-sharing-arrangement trailing-3-year normalization; the carrier-appointment portfolio depth and re-papering timeline; the producer non-compete and non-solicit enforceability, which Colorado has restricted by statute so retention has to run through client non-solicits and trade-secret protection; the E&O claims-made tail coverage cost at 100-300% of annual premium; the specialty MGA / wholesale binding-authority valuation premium that Colorado’s catastrophe-driven surplus-lines demand supports; and the critical regulatory clarification on Form A (applies to carriers, NOT agency book sales) are all insurance-agency-specific diligence items. A Colorado seller advised by someone who understands the 695-deal 2025 OPTIS count (down from 787 in 2024), the current cap-table on Acrisure / AssuredPartners / Risk Strategies / NFP / BroadStreet / Higginbotham (which is materially different from 2022-2023 ownership), and the book-retention earnout math negotiates as an equal, not as someone being educated by the buyer’s diligence team at their own expense.
Owners who reach the top of the multiple range almost always prepared deliberately. With 12-24 months of runway, a Colorado agency should prioritize: shift mix toward commercial lines and employee benefits; document the carrier-by-carrier appointment portfolio; stabilize contingent / profit-sharing commission through Front Range catastrophe seasons; push book retention above 92%; reduce carrier concentration below 25%; build a producer bench; secure E&O tail coverage availability and cost; and confirm Colorado producer non-compete enforceability.
Owners who reach the top of the multiple range almost always prepared deliberately. With 12-24 months of runway, a Colorado agency should prioritize:
For the broader framework, see our insurance agency hub guide and our lower middle market buyer mandate report.
The recurring Colorado seller mistakes: treating Form A change-of-control as an agency-sale requirement (it applies to carriers, not agency book sales); soliciting outdated buyer lists when Acrisure, AssuredPartners, Risk Strategies, NFP, BroadStreet and Higginbotham all have different cap tables in 2025-2026; anchoring on revenue rather than EBITDA, retention, and carrier appointment depth; under-modeling the E&O tail; and carrying unenforceable producer non-competes into a sale in Colorado.
Companion guides: Sell Your Insurance Agency (national overview), the lower middle market buyer mandate report, and Exit multiple: the 2026 operator’s guide.
Companion guides:
Insurance agency M&A is the most mature roll-up in US services, with 695 OPTIS-tracked transactions in 2025 (down roughly 12% from 787 in 2024), a 73% private-equity-backed buyer share, 15+ active national consolidators, and a structural seller wave driven by 60%+ of agency principals lacking written perpetuation plans. A Colorado insurance agency with a commercial-lines and employee-benefits weighted book, 92%+ trailing-3-year book retention, low carrier concentration (no carrier above 25%), normalized contingent commission, current E&O tail coverage planning, a real producer bench (two to four senior brokers), and retention covenants structured as enforceable client non-solicits can realistically reach the upper end of its valuation tier. The issues that most often cost Colorado sellers money are personal-lines-heavy concentration, outdated buyer-list outreach to the wrong PE owners, volatile contingent commission without trailing-3-year normalization through Front Range catastrophe seasons, unmodeled E&O tail cost, and accepting the first inbound platform offer rather than running a confidential process across the full active consolidator pool.
This guide reflects 2026 insurance agency M&A market conditions and CT Acquisitions’ direct work with active acquirers. Multiples are directional, not a guarantee, and every agency is underwritten on its own book retention, carrier-appointment portfolio, contingent commission sustainability, producer roster, and growth profile. Colorado Division of Insurance agency-license and producer-license rules, carrier-appointment re-papering procedures, and Colorado non-compete enforceability are in active transition, so confirm current requirements with qualified insurance counsel before relying on them in a transaction.
If you operate a different business in Colorado, our state-specific sub-guides walk through the named PE buyers, current valuation multiples, and Colorado-specific deal mechanics for each vertical. You can also explore insurance agency sales in other high-activity states.
A Colorado insurance agency typically sells for 2-3.5x SDE or 1.0-1.8x revenue if it’s a sub-$1M EBITDA personal-lines-heavy book, 7-10x EBITDA or 2.0-3.0x revenue in the $1M-$5M regional-aggregator tier, 10-14x EBITDA at $5M+ platform-quality scale, and 11-14x EBITDA (with outliers to 18-20x) for specialty MGAs, wholesale brokers and program administrators. Sica Fletcher reported an average of 11.8x EBITDA across agency and broker deals in the first half of 2025. At the platform headline, AssuredPartners sold to Gallagher for $13.45B in 2025, Acrisure recapped at $32B with Bain Capital leading, and Risk Strategies sold to Brown & Brown in 2025. The single biggest mid-market lever is renewal-commission retention, and Colorado agencies with 92%+ trailing-3-year retention and commercial-lines / employee-benefits weighting trade 1-2 turns higher than personal-lines-heavy peers.
The 15+ active PE-backed national insurance consolidators all acquire across all 50 states, including Colorado. The most active in 2024-2026 are Acrisure (Bain Capital-led $32B recap, the largest PE-backed broker in the US, HQ Grand Rapids MI), Hub International (Hellman & Friedman / Apax / Altas / Leonard Green), Alera Group (Genstar + CDPQ), AssuredPartners (now Gallagher, $13.45B 2025), Risk Strategies (now Brown & Brown 2025), USI Insurance Services (KKR), NFP (now Aon, $13.4B 2024), Patriot Growth Insurance Services (Summit + GI), Keystone Insurers Group (Warburg Pincus, HQ Northumberland PA), Foundation Risk Partners (Partners Group), Inszone (BHMS Investments), BroadStreet Partners (Ethos + BCI + White Mountains 2024), World Insurance Associates (Goldman + Charlesbank), Relation Insurance (Aquiline), and Higginbotham (employee-owned, Stone Point + Blackstone minority). Public consolidators (Gallagher AJG, Marsh McLennan MMC, Brown & Brown BRO, Aon AON, Willis Towers Watson WTW) also actively acquire Colorado agencies.
No, this is a critical clarification often missed. Insurance Form A change-of-control approval applies to INSURANCE CARRIERS (companies underwriting policies), NOT to agency book sales. A Colorado agency stock sale requires (1) a Colorado Division of Insurance business entity license update to reflect the new ownership, (2) carrier-by-carrier appointment re-papering (60-120 days post-close depending on carrier), and (3) individual producer-license maintenance for each selling agent, but NOT Form A approval. Treating Form A as an agency-sale gating item adds unnecessary delay and signals advisor inexperience to a buyer’s diligence team.
Insurance agencies with 90%+ trailing-3-year renewal-commission retention consistently trade 1-2 full turns of EBITDA higher than peers running 85% or below. Buyers prove it by reviewing the Colorado book carrier-by-carrier, policy-by-policy: trailing-3-year retention by line of business, average premium per account, renewal commission trailing-12 month-over-month, and carrier-appointment portfolio depth. Agency management system (AMS) reports (Applied Epic, Vertafore AMS360, HawkSoft, etc.) are the documentation standard for diligence.
The highest multiples in Colorado go to agencies with 92%+ trailing-3-year book retention, commercial-lines and employee-benefits weighted revenue mix (not personal-lines-heavy), low carrier concentration (no carrier above 25%), normalized contingent commission with a trailing-3-year baseline through Front Range catastrophe seasons, organic premium growth above 10%, a real producer bench (two to four senior brokers reducing key-person risk), and a clean E&O claims history with verified tail-coverage availability. Specialty MGA / wholesale / program-administrator books with binding authority and underwriting margin participation trade at the very top of the range (11-14x with outliers to 18-20x for platform recaps like Ryan Specialty, Amwins, RPS, RT Specialty), and Colorado’s catastrophe-driven surplus-lines demand supports that specialty premium.
A well-run, confidential Colorado insurance agency sale typically takes five to eight months from go-to-market to close: roughly 4-8 weeks of preparation (carrier-appointment portfolio documentation, contingent commission normalization, AMS data normalization, E&O tail coverage review), 3-6 weeks of confidential outreach to the active PE-backed consolidators, 3-5 weeks to indications of interest and letter of intent, then 90-120 days of diligence and closing, with carrier-appointment re-papering (60-120 days post-close) extending as the operational tail beyond the signing window.
Nothing to the seller. CT Acquisitions is a buy-side advisor, not a business broker, so the buyer pays our fee. There is no commission, no retainer, and no exclusivity contract for the seller.
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