IBI Corporate Finance has acquired a 50% stake in BXI, a specialist Dublin-based M&A advisor.

Broker Exchange Ireland is focussed on facilitating and advising on transactions amongst brokers working in the insurance and wealth management sectors.

This is the first transaction which IBI has made since it completed an MBO from Bank of Ireland in 2017.

BXI was founded by Shay Keane in 2019.  He had previously sold Le Chéile Group to various investment and insurance firms and PSL Consulting to IFG plc.

Tom Godfrey, chairman and CEO of IBI Corporate Finance, commented that the traditional world of insurance and wealth management brokers is undergoing a period of rapid consolidation

In Association with

“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, and brokers at the smaller end of the market are going through a similar process,” said Godfrey.

“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.

“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.”

Photo (l-r): IBI’s Ted Webb and Tom Godfrey with Shay Keane