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Insurance broker Howden snaps up Aston Lark from Goldman Sachs in £1.1bn deal

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Redmayne Bentley is to acquire Blankstone Sington's private clients business.
Redmayne Bentley is to acquire Blankstone Sington's private clients business.

Employee-owned insurance broker Howden this morning announced it had agreed a deal with Goldman Sachs and Bowman to buy Aston Lark.

The deal, thought to be worth more than £1bn according to people close to the broking firms, will give Howden access to the Aston Lark’s complex commercial and private client base.

Howden will leapfrog from fifth to second in the ranks of leading UK brokerages, behind Marsh, if the deal is arrpoved by regulators.

Aston Lark’s Peter Blanc will become executive chairman of Howden’s UK retail broking operations.

The deal will create a UK business at Howden managing over £6bn of gross written premiums for more than 1.7m policyholders in the UK and Ireland, the firms said in a statement.