EQT agrees to buy majority stake in McGill and Partners

EQT has agreed to buy a majority stake in McGill and Partners, a London-headquartered speciality (re)insurance broker, from private equity firm Warburg Pincus, in a deal announced on 4 September 2026 that values the business at $2.0 billion. The transaction is structured as a private share sale, and not a public takeover, since McGill and Partners aren't listed on any stock exchange

The Parties

McGill and Partners is an independent (re)insurance broker (a firm that acts as an intermediary, arranging insurance and reinsurance cover for clients rather than underwriting the risk itself), founded in 2019 by industry veteran Steve McGill. In seven years it has grown to more than 600 employees across seven countries, with revenues above $250 million, and it advises over 1,000 large corporate and institutional clients on complex or unusual insurance risks. Warbug Pincus, the seller, is a US private equity firm with more than $105 billion under management that has backed McGill and Partners since its founding. EQT is one of Europe's largest private equity groups, with roughly $341 billion in total assets under management.

Structure & Process

This is a straightforward private M&A transaction: a negotiated sale of equity between private parties, and not a public bid subject to takeover regulation. EQT's fund, EQT X, is buying Warburg Pincus's entire equity stake, while McGill and Partners' fouders, management, and wider staff will reinvest and keep a "meaningful" ownership stake going forward. There's no scheme of arrangement or tender offer here because there are no public shareholders to court. The deal only needs the parties own approvals and customary regulatory sign-offs, likely including insurance-sector regulatory clearances, given the target's business.

The Financing Angle

Neither side has disclosed how much of the $2.0 billion price is being funded by EQT's own fund capital versus acquisition debt. This is a detail, unlike UK-listed takeovers, private deals aren't required to publish. Ardea Partners acted as EQT's exclusive financial adviser, while McGill and Partners was advised on the financial side by Evercore, Perella Weinberg, and Unity Advisory, and its management by Liberty Corporate Finance. No bank lenders or debt package have been named in any source reviewed for this briefing.

Why it Matters

The deal is a vote of confidence in the 'MGA/broker' model of insurance distribution, or independent brokers who compete with giants like Marsh and Aon by specialising in complex, high-value risk placements, and it's another example of private equity's growing appetite for insurance intermediaries as steady, fee-generating businesses. For EQT, it's a bet that McGill and Partners' technology-led, 'no-legacy' approach to data and client service can keep taking market share from older, larger competitors as it expands further into the US.

Real-World Impact

This one sits mostly behind the scenes of everyday-life. McGill and Partners arranges insurance for large corporates and institutions, not the policies. most people buy directly, so the direct effect on ordinary consumers is limited. That said, there are a couple direct implications. First, for McGill and Partners' roughly 600 staff, the deal looks like good news rather than bad. The company says "all colleagues will financially benefit from the transaction" thanks to its employee-ownership structure, and EQT has committed to a new equity plan specifically to fund further hiring of "specialty broking talent". Thus, this is a case where PE buyout is being sold as a job-creation story, not a cost cutting one, though as with any ownership change that's worth watching rather than taking purely at face value. Secondly, and more broadly, private equity has been buying up insurance brokers for several years now, and UK and EU regulators (including the FCA) have periodically flagged concerns about whether PE ownership of insurance intermediaries could create pressure to prioritise fees over client advice.