America's Benefit Specialist November 2022

continue to oversee operations and collabo rate with Choice to further its expansion. GPA CEO Michael Heidelberger said, “Building GPA was a labor of love for Steve and me, when it came time to find the right partner to continue our growth, we looked at many possible solutions. When we heard the Choice story, we knew we had found the right fit.” GPA COO Steven Roy shared, “We were looking for a strategic partner that of fered the support and resources we needed, and it was clear that we could develop that synergy with Choice.” The transaction between GPA and Choice closed on August 1 and represents the 10th acquisition for the Choice since partnering with Northlane Capital Part ners in October 2021. SAN DIEGO INSURANCE FIRMS TO MERGE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PRACTICE C3 Risk & Insurance Services and B. Wood Insurance have joined forces to expand em ployee benefits plan services to current and prospective clients. The merger went into effect on October 1. The company will oper ate under the C3 Risk & Insurance Services name and deepen and diversify specialty expertise through the strategic partnership. Leaders of the two San Diego insurance companies began talks in 2021 when they realized their professional and personal circles overlapped in several areas. When they discovered the close alignment of their organizational values and how complemen tary their skill sets were, the partnership felt like the next right step for both firms. C3 offers personal and commercial lines of insurance, risk-management solutions and tailored employee benefits plans to businesses of all sizes. Merging with B. Wood Insurance adds 17 years of industry experience with an emphasis on employee benefits programs.

B. Wood Insurance co-founders and brothers Ben Wood and Bryan Wood will now be partners at C3 Risk & Insurance Services as a result of the merger. B. Wood Insurance is an employee benefits shop in Southern California, which accelerates the capacity of C3’s benefits division. HUB INTERNATIONAL EXPANDS EMPLOYEE BENEFITS CAPABILITIES WITH ACQUISITION Hub International Limited has acquired the assets of each of Peel & Holland Holdings Inc., Peel & Holland Inc., Riddle Insurance LLC, Hartin Dynamics LLC and Bluegrass Premium Finance LLC. (collectively, Peel & Holland). Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with six additional locations, Peel & Holland is a full-service, independent insurance agency providing property and casualty insurance, surety and bonding, family insurance and employee benefits plans. Peel & Holland leadership, including Roy Riley, president & CEO, Keith Riley, senior vice president, Skip McGaw, president of Riddle Insurance and Kelly Harding, vice president, and the Peel & Holland team will join Hub Mid-South. NATIONSBENEFITS TO EXPAND ITS FLEX BENEFIT CARD TECHNOLOGY NationsBenefits, a provider of supplemental benefits, flex cards and member-engage ment solutions for health plans, recently announced the acquisition of SoliSYSTEMS, an experienced technology integration vendor with a background in providing IT support to both state governments and commercial enterprises. This acquisition is part of the company’s strategic vision to expand its flex benefit card technology to meet the ever-growing needs of health plans

up to focus more on clients and could help them grow well into the future. FRANCISCO PARTNERS TO ACQUIRE BSWIFT FROM CVS HEALTH Francisco Partners, a global investment firm that specializes in partnering with tech nology businesses, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire bswift, a provider of benefits technology and services, from CVS Health. Founded in 1996, bswift is a provider of software and services that streamline ben efits and human resources administration, offering a cloud-based technology platform with service. The company combines its deep expertise and passion for technology innovation with customer service and a consumer-driven approach. bswift helps its partners and employers simplify adminis tration, manage employee benefits, reduce administrative costs, and connect employ ees with resources needed to achieve their health ambitions. bswift will continue to partner with CVS Health and Aetna, a CVS Health company, to provide benefits technology to its employ ees and client base. Since its launch over 20 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in over 400 technology companies. CHOICE FINANCIAL GROUP EXPANDS INTO THREE NEW STATES THROUGH PARTNERSHIP Choice Financial Group (Virginia Beach, Virginia) has partnered with Georgia Pines Agency LLC, furthering its expansion and entering Florida, Georgia and Califor nia. GPA is a full-service agency with 12 branch locations that provide personal and commercial insurance to a variety of clients. Together with their team of 65, co-founders Michael Heidelberger and Steven Roy will

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