Regions Takes Over Merchants

Regions Financial Corp. reported it has acquired the assets of Louisiana-based Merchants Insurance Services Inc. The Merchants organization consists of four retail insurance agencies operating under the trade name the Crick Agency and a specialty wholesale managing general agency using the Merchants name.

Both the wholesale and retail agencies will continue to operate under their respective names as part of Regions’ insurance line of business, which is headed by Arkansas-based Rebsamen Insurance. The line of business also includes ICT Group, located in Louisiana. Terms of the acquisition will not be disclosed.

“The Crick Agency’s focus on middle-market property and casualty insurance is an excellent complement to our existing product lines,” said Rebsamen president and CEO Allen J. McDowell, who will oversee the relationship between his agency and Crick and Merchants. “Merchants specializes in hospitality and is an administrator for a program insuring hotels and motels across the country, which is an attractive niche market.

“What made this an attractive opportunity was the group’s geographic location, as well as their excellent cultural fit with the Rebsamen and greater Regions families,” McDowell said.

Merchants Insurance Services president Neil B. Crick, agreed.

“We have grown our business by focusing on the individual needs of our clients,” Crick said of the agency acquired by his father B.J. “Bud” Crick in 1976. “This has served us well, but, as we looked to the future, we realized that to continue to offer our clients the products and services they need and deserve, we had to consider partnering with an organization with resources that would be difficult to for us to acquire organically.

“Our primary concern in seeking such a partner centered on finding someone that shared and understood our corporate values of caring and respect for our clients,” Crick said. “Regions and Rebsamen have the unique distinction of being large enough to have leverage in the marketplace, but, at the same time, recognizing the importance of the individual.”

With annual revenues approaching $58 million, Regions’ primary insurance arm offers personal and commercial insurance, including property, casualty, life, health and accident.