The development marks Gallagher’s first direct presence in Turkey following the acquisition of Brokers’ House in August last year.
Founded in 2010, the business is a commercial insurance and facultative reinsurance broker offering a broad range of commercial and specialty lines including property, financial lines, energy, engineering, and marine. The firm is headquartered in Istanbul, has 25 employees and its leadership team of Gündüz Tezel and Levent Özbilen will remain with the business in their current roles of CEO and CFO.
This move marks further investment in the region by the global broker as the country increasingly becomes as a strategic insurance hub between Asia and Europe. The team in Turkey will benefit of becoming fully part of a global business, operating under a well-established insurance brand, which will help scale up the firm significantly under ambitious growth plans. Clients will benefit from access to a larger suite of insurance products and services.
Clients will continue to have the same day-to-day contacts at the firm, who understand their individual business and insurance requirements, but will benefit from the global scale and buying power of Gallagher, and its expertise across 39,000 global employees.
Vyvienne Wade, Chairperson of Global Broking in Europe, Middle East, & Asia, said: “Having an on-the-ground Gallagher presence in Turkey is an exciting step as we continue to expand our operations in both Europe and Asia. When we buy a business its biggest assets are its people, and the business in Turkey is a fantastic example of us bringing a talented team on board to lead our growth plans in a new country. I look forward to working with Gündüz, Levent and the wider team to bring additional products and risk management expertise to more businesses in Turkey and the region.”
Gündüz added: “We first started working with Gallagher in 2014 as a partner on its global network and as a result we knew our culture and focus on to client service were both similar. This next step positions us very well for further growth in our current areas of capability, and provides the opportunity to work across additional industries. Becoming fully integrated with Gallagher will ensure clients gain full access to international markets and expertise, and a wider range of products and services, while continuing to receive the same high-quality service from the team they know.”
