IBI Corporate Finance has bought a 50% stake in specialist Dublin-based merger and acquisition advisor BXI (Broker Exchange Ireland).
BXI focusses on facilitating and advising on transactions amongst brokers working in the Insurance and Wealth Management sectors.
The deal marks the first transaction which IBI has made since it completed a management buyout from Bank of Ireland in 2017.
BXI (Broker Exchange Ireland) was founded by Shay Keane in 2019.
Tom Godfrey, Chairman and CEO of IBI Corporate Finance, said the traditional world of insurance and wealth management brokers is undergoing a period of rapid consolidation and change.
"There have been some very high-profile, landmark transactions at the top end of the financial services market and particularly the wealth management and insurance sectors in the past few years but brokers at the smaller end of the market are going through a similar process," Mr Godfrey said.
"Regulatory and compliance costs are increasing significantly, many smaller brokers with owner-managers are looking to exit the market and you have a new generation of Irish and international players looking to bring various parties together to increase market share and leverage greater economies of scale," he said.
"We believe there will be a significant volume of transactions in this sector over the rest of the decade and we're delighted to back Shay who has vast experience and connections across the broker market," he added.
