Marsh Acquires Cosmos Services

Marsh, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, announced today the acquisition of Cosmos Services (America) Inc., the U.S. insurance brokerage subsidiary of global trading firm ITOCHU Corporation. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Published on April 2, 2012

With offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, Cosmos specializes in providing commercial property/casualty, personal lines, and employee benefits brokerage services to U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese companies. It has annual revenues of approximately $8 million.

Cosmos’ employees will become part of Marsh’s Asia Client Services (ACS) team under the leadership of John McDonnell, President and CEO of ACS in the United States. The deal further strengthens Marsh’s capabilities and resources in serving Japanese clients in the U.S. and also forges a strategic relationship between Marsh and ITOCHU.

“Marsh’s experience and expertise in serving the risk and insurance needs of Asian companies operating outside their home country is unparalleled,” said David Batchelor, head of Marsh’s International Division. “The combination of Marsh and Cosmos is positive news for clients. Marsh’s existing strong Japan client base in the U.S. will benefit from Cosmos’ deep expertise and familiarity with the Japanese culture and language, while Cosmos’ clients will immediately benefit from a new range of expertise and capabilities that will now be available through Marsh."
 
Hirofumi Shimoyama, Marsh’s Japan Country Head and Global Japan Client Services Leader, added: “As more Japanese companies seek to expand their operations overseas, they need global risk and insurance advisors who understand their corporate culture and can provide innovative solutions anywhere around the world. With the acquisition of Cosmos, Marsh is furthering its commitment to Japanese clients operating in the United States.”