Banking

BancorpSouth expands its Acadiana footprint

by Patrick Flanagan

In a press release issued Wednesday, BancorpSouth announced a deal to acquire Knox Insurance Group of Lafayette.

In a press release issued Wednesday, BancorpSouth announced a deal to acquire Knox Insurance Group of Lafayette.

The acquisition is through the Mississippi-based company's subsidiary, BancorpSouth Insurance Services, and the deal is expected for an immediate closing, though the financial terms of the transaction have not been released.

"The Knox acquisition gives us an opportunity to meaningfully expand our market share in Southwest Louisiana," says BancorpSouth CEO Dan Rollins. "Knox has a strong track record of revenue growth as well as a number of large commercial relationships adding significant value to our current book of business."

Knox Insurance was founded in Lafayette in 1972, and generates about $3 million in annual revenue. The company has been led for the last 15 years by owners/brokers Dwayne David and Randall Bonaventure, who will continue in their roles after the deal's closing.

"We are delighted to join forces with BancorpSouth, an organization that has a tremendous amount of respect in our industry," says David. "The additional products and services that a company of this scale can provide will be an asset to both Randall and myself, as producers, and to our customer base."

Knox specializes in general/umbrella liability, workers compensation, business auto, and property and casualty insurance, and has a large and diverse client base including medical, transportation, marine, manufacturing, energy, construction and agricultural processing.

BancorpSouth Insurance was ranked by Business Insurance as the nation's 33rd largest insurance firm. The company employs 500 associates in 29 offices throughout the country.

"We are excited about the opportunity to add Dwayne, Randall and their team to our existing agency platform," says BancorpSouth Insurance President Markham McKnight. "They operate a very customer-focused model similar to that of our agency and we are impressed by the book of business that they have been able to build. We are able to equip them with new product and service offerings benefiting both current and potential customers."