Buying brokers

When Tampa-based USAmeriBank was presented with a $4.5 million cash offer to sell the insurance brokerage firm it bought 10 months earlier, it was easily persuaded. The quick sale wasn't due to lack of performance — Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols (CCF&N) was growing quickly — but rather the insurance firm and the bank saw it as an opportunity to expand services for the firm. The deal meant CCF&N would benefit from its acquirer's larger brand, Hub International, but would still be able to maintain a strong relationship with USAmeribank and its clients.