Minnesota Brokerage to Join Acordia
Principals of W.A. Lang Co, a brokerage founded in Minnesota in the early 1900s, says it has signed a letter of intent to sell the firm to Acordia Inc. Gary Wefel, president and chief executive officer of the 90-year old Lang Co., which specializes property and casualty insurance, surety bonds and employee benefits programs, said that the sale is scheduled to close Friday, January 7, but will be effective January 1, 2000. The transaction price was not made public.
"This is great news for everyone," Wefel said. "First, our customers will receive a more varied product-line, more technical and sales support, but retain the same one-on-one personal relationship they have enjoyed over the past 90-years of association with this company; second our employees will be rewarded with a share in the proceeds of the sale and they will have a more diverse portfolio to offer our customers in the future. And finally, our shareholders will receive an excellent return on their investment."
According to Wefel, all present Lang Company employees are expected to be retained by Acordia at the time of the closing. There are a small number of duplicated positions, estimated at less than 10, that will be eliminated at some time in the future, however, those have not yet been determined. Any employees who are eliminated will be given Acordia's normal severance package.
Acordia, with offices in Edina, Minn. -- one of 100 such offices across the country -- has been looking to expand its presence in Minnesota, where they employ approximately 100 sales and support staff. According to Wefel, the acquisition of Lang will double Acordia's financial presence in this state.
The name of the W.A. Lang Co., will cease as the merged operations are combined under the Acordia corporate banner. The merged organization will seek new offices in the Twin Cities metro area sometime over the next 6 months to a year in a location as yet undecided.
Wefel said that W.A. Lang Co.'s senior managers, which includes himself and Jim Rechtiene, will be joined by Greg Gates of Acordia to comprise the management team for the new Acordia organization in Minnesota. Following the acquisition, Wefel will become Managing Director, Rechtiene will be Executive Vice President-Benefits and Gates will be Executive Vice President- Property/Casualty.
"For all intents and purposes, the only change that our Lang customers will notice during this transition will be the change in the company name," Wefel said. "They will be dealing with the same representatives they've had servicing their account at Lang, with one significant difference: Under Acordia, the representatives will be able to make available to our customers a more diverse product line."
"Like all fields of enterprise, the insurance brokerage business has been going through vast changes in the past several years," Rechtiene stated. "Where once we had familiar independent companies in our field like Alexander & Alexander and Johnson and & Higgins, we have seen them replaced through extensive market consolidation. The consolidation is taking place for the same reasons we have agreed to be purchased by Acordia: Larger size means more resources to offer customers better product lines and more value for their premium dollars."
Lang Co. employs approximately 80 people in Twin City offices, located in downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul. The company was founded in 1909 by W.A. Lang and has made a tradition of being a staunch advocate for its clients. The company deals in commercial insurance, employee benefits, surety bonds, risk management, and corporate and professional liability insurance. While dealing with many types of businesses, Wefel said that W.A. Lang is widely known throughout the insurance industry for its expertise in construction, technology, health care, and manufacturing/printing industries.