Portfolio activity / October 25, 2017

Oak Hill Capital-Backed EPIC to Acquire Frenkel & Company, Expanding Northeast Platform

Acquisition further strengthens one of the nation’s fastest growing insurance brokers and employee benefits consultants

New York, NY and San Francisco, CA – October 25, 2017

Frenkel & Company (“Frenkel”), one of the nation’s most respected full-service independent insurance brokers, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants (“EPIC”). EPIC is a unique and innovative national retail insurance brokerage and employee benefits consulting firm that Oak Hill Capital Partners (“Oak Hill”) acquired in September 2017.

Established in 1878 by Emil Frenkel, Frenkel & Company is one of the largest privately-held insurance brokers in the nation. With revenues approaching $80 million, Frenkel was most recently ranked #48 in Business Insurance Magazine’s list of the 100 Largest Brokers of U.S. Business, published in July 2017.

“Frenkel & Company has been delivering strategic guidance and service around the risk management, insurance, and benefit consulting needs of our clients for nearly 140 years,” said John F. Kelly, President and CEO of Frenkel & Company. “We believe the decision to join EPIC will help us deliver an even broader and deeper set of capabilities and added value to our clients, with the same commitment to responsive, personalized service that has been a hallmark of our firm since 1878. We are thrilled to join forces with a unique and successful company like EPIC.”

Upon joining EPIC, Frenkel will operate as Frenkel & Company – a Division of EPIC. Frenkel’s strong leadership team will play vital, active roles within the integrated EPIC organization.

John Hahn, CEO of EPIC said, “We found a strong cultural partner in Frenkel & Company, in an important and highly desirable region where we see tremendous opportunities for growth. In combination with our March 2017 acquisition of The Capacity Group and other growth, we have added roughly 450 new team members and now have revenue of more than $150 million in the Northeast Region. Frenkel locations and teams in New York City, Jersey City, Boston, and Los Angeles will add significant value to our clients across the country and create further opportunities for our employees’ long-term growth and career success.”

Steve Puccinelli, Partner at Oak Hill said, “The acquisition of Frenkel & Company represents a key next step in the execution of Oak Hill’s vision to create a leading national insurance brokerage platform. The Frenkel acquisition materially expands EPIC’s presence in the Northeast and provides a strong platform to extend risk management, property & casualty insurance, international client services, employee benefits consulting, program solutions, and private client services to companies across the region, nationally and internationally. This acquisition is consistent with our value creation roadmap for our platform investment in EPIC and builds upon our 30-year history of investing behind leading businesses and management teams.”

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017, following the satisfaction of customary regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Frenkel & Company – a Division of EPIC

Frenkel & Company – a Division of EPIC offers an expansive array of traditional and customized risk management, property & casualty insurance, and employee benefits consulting products and services to a broad spectrum of businesses, industries, and individuals. Headquartered in New York, NY, the firm has grown organically and through a series of acquisitions and strategic partnerships to become one of the 50 largest brokers of U.S. Business. For additional information, please visit www.frenkel.com.

About EPIC

EPIC is a unique and innovative retail property & casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and consulting firm. EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty, and sustains a high level of customer service excellence. EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a “Best Place to Work” in multiple regions and as a “Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry” nationally.

EPIC now has more than 1,300 team members operating from offices across the U.S., providing Property & Casualty insurance, Employee Benefits Consulting, Specialty Programs, and Private Client solutions to more than 30,000 clients.

With run-rate revenues of roughly $400 million, EPIC ranks among the top 20 retail insurance brokers in the United States. Backed by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country. For additional information, please visit www.epicbrokers.com.

About Oak Hill Capital Partners

Oak Hill is a private equity firm managing funds with more than $10 billion of initial capital commitments since inception from leading global endowments and foundations, public and corporate pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, financial institutions, consultants, and family offices. Over the past 30 years, the professionals at Oak Hill and its predecessors have invested in 85 significant private equity transactions across broad segments of the U.S. and global economies. Oak Hill applies an industry-focused, theme-based approach to investing in the following sectors: Consumer, Retail & Distribution; Industrials; Media & Communications; and Services. Oak Hill works actively in partnership with management to implement strategic and operational initiatives to create franchise value. For more information, please visit www.oakhillcapital.com.

Media Contact:
Jeremy Fielding
Kekst
212-521-4800