BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Northlane Capital Partners (“NCP”) announced today that it has made an investment in Choice Financial Group (“Choice”), a leading insurance agency. NCP invested in partnership with the Choice management team, led by Founder and President Richard Braun. In addition, Bob Hilb, an established insurance industry executive with more than 30 years of experience, joined the Choice executive team in conjunction with NCP’s investment.
Founded in 1998, Choice provides property and casualty insurance and employee benefits services to a range of commercial and individual customers. Choice is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA, with 12 offices across the Mid-Atlantic region. Additional information is available at https://choiceins.com/.
“I am very excited that we have entered into a partnership with NCP at this juncture in Choice’s strategic evolution. NCP’s investment adds capital resources and expertise that will accelerate our company’s growth, particularly with respect to our acquisition strategy. We share a vision with NCP for Choice to become a leading national insurance brokerage platform, while maintaining our steadfast focus on the highest quality service for our customers,” commented Richard Braun, President of Choice.
Sean Eagle, Partner at NCP, added, “Choice has a clear market opportunity to continue to build on its prior success, including a successful track record of 11 acquisitions completed over the past three years. We have been thoroughly impressed with Richard’s leadership and strategic perspectives. NCP will support Choice in building additional scale, adding new service capabilities, and expanding its geographic footprint. We look forward to working alongside Richard and the Choice team to execute on the company’s growth initiatives, including onboarding entrepreneurial and likeminded agencies to the platform.”
Choice has also added Bob Hilb, a proven insurance executive, to its team to help oversee the company’s acquisition strategy. “Bob has a highly successful track record in the industry, and the opportunity to have him as a partner will benefit the platform and its stakeholders immensely,” noted Scott Kauffman, Partner at NCP.
Sica | Fletcher served as the exclusive financial advisor to Choice. Wolcott Rivers Gates served as legal counsel to Choice and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to NCP. Madison Capital Funding LLC provided debt financing for the transaction.
ABOUT NORTHLANE CAPITAL PARTNERS
Based in Bethesda, MD, NCP is a middle market private equity firm focused on key segments within the healthcare and business services sectors, where its principals have invested more than $1.6 billion of equity capital. NCP’s strategy is to partner with industry leading companies and great management teams, aligning incentives to accelerate growth and build value. NCP was named to Grady Campbell’s 2021 list of Top 50 Private Equity Firms in the Middle Market. For more information, please visit www.northlanecapital.com.
