3:06
Buyer · Sheri
Servant's Heart
What buying a business through MDR & Associates looked like from the other side of the table.
Business Services
Selling an insurance agency in Texas
A buyer is purchasing a book of business: how much of it renews, which carriers it sits with, and who the customers think their agent is.
We have sold Texas insurance agencies since 2010, including an Allstate agency and an independent agency. It is a sector where the buyer is very often another agency owner — and where our work is as much about matching the right two people as it is about price.
An agency's value is in its renewals. Two agencies with the same commission revenue can be worth very different amounts, depending on how many customers stay each year and whether they stay with the agency or with one person in it.
Insurance agencies, at a glance
- Transactions we have published5
- Most recent closingMay 2026
- Companies we sell$3M–$100M
- Typical sale3–9 months
- Fee if we do not closeNone
What decides the price
What buyers examine in an insurance agency
| Factor | What a buyer does with it |
|---|---|
| Retention | The percentage of policies that renew each year. It is the most important number in the sale, and buyers check it carrier by carrier. |
| The mix of business | Personal lines, commercial lines, and life and benefits are valued differently. Commercial accounts are larger, and also more concentrated. |
| Carrier appointments | Whether your contracts with carriers can pass to a buyer. With a captive agency, the carrier has to approve the buyer, and its rules shape the whole sale. |
| Concentration | A few large commercial accounts, or a book that one producer controls, is a risk a buyer will price. |
| Producers and agreements | Whether producers have signed non-solicitation agreements, and who owns the accounts they write. |
| Who the customers call | If every customer asks for you by name, the buyer needs you to stay long enough to pass those relationships on. |
Proof
Insurance agencies we have sold
Published because their owners agreed to it, with the month each one closed.
Afterwards
What they said when it was done
I selected Michael because I knew him to be a man of honor and integrity from our time in church together where I witnessed him being a servant leader outside of the business world. He was patient with both sides of the transaction and listened to both of our needs and expectations. We closed the deal…
On camera
A buyer, on how the purchase ran
3:06
Who buys
The three kinds of buyer for an insurance agency
Other agency owners
The most common buyer: an owner adding a book, a location or a carrier appointment to an agency they already run.
Regional and national agencies
Larger firms and the private equity groups behind them, buying independent agencies with strong commercial books.
First-time owners
Licensed agents and producers buying their own agency, usually with SBA financing.
Before you go to market
Four things that raise the price, and cost nothing
If a sale is a year or more away, this is the work that pays. It is also the first thing a buyer's accountant will ask for. Pre-exit consulting is how we help owners do it.
- Pull retention by carrier and by line for the last three years.
- Read the transfer and termination clauses in every carrier contract.
- Put producer agreements in writing.
- Introduce your largest accounts to someone else on your team.
Questions about selling an insurance agency
How is an insurance agency valued?
On its commission revenue and how reliably that revenue renews. Offers are often discussed as a multiple of annual commission revenue or of earnings, and which one applies depends on the size of the agency and the buyer. Retention, the mix of personal and commercial lines, and whether the carrier contracts can transfer decide the number. A confidential opinion of value is free.
Can I sell a captive agency?
In many cases, yes, but the carrier sets the rules. The carrier usually has to approve the buyer and may limit who can buy. We have sold an Allstate agency, and the first step is always to read what your agreement with the carrier allows.
Will my employees or customers find out?
Not from us. Your company goes to market as a blind profile, with no name and nothing that identifies it. A buyer signs a confidentiality agreement and proves they can fund the purchase before they learn who you are.
How long does a sale take?
Typically three to nine months from engagement to funds wired. How profitable the business is, how well the records hold up and how many buyers are at the table decide where you land.
Your company
Talk to an advisor about your insurance agency
Four fields and a reply the same business day. Nothing you send is shared with anyone. If you would rather talk, call (855) 637-2776.
- A value range and what is driving it
- What a buyer would examine first in your company
- No fee unless and until your company sells