BOSTON and SAN FRANCISCO – Great Hill Partners and Genstar Capital announced today the sale of All Web Leads (AWL) to Genstar Capital. AWL is the premier customer acquisition marketing business focused on the U.S. property and casualty, health, and life insurance markets. Using its proprietary closed-loop technology platform, AWL attracts and qualifies 100,000 high-intent consumers searching online for insurance products every day and connects those consumers with its industry-leading network of insurance providers.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, AWL’s clients include the top 10 U.S. property and casualty insurance carriers, several of the largest U.S. health insurers, and over 11,000 individual agents in all 50 U.S. states.
In February 2011, Great Hill Partners recapitalized AWL and financed its acquisition of InsuranceLeads.com. Since Great Hill’s investment, AWL has become the largest independent source of insurance quotes, originating 45% of all online quotes from non-carriers, and set the standard for product innovation through its pioneering Live Connect Concierge service, which matches highly qualified shoppers with insurance providers through live telephone calls.
Peter Garran, a Principal at Great Hill Partners, commented, “During the course of our investment, the AWL team continuously innovated to redefine customer acquisition marketing in the insurance industry and drive growth and value creation.” Managing Partner Chris Gaffney added, “On behalf of Great Hill, I want to thank Bill Daniel and the AWL team for their hard work and focus in building such a great company for its clients, employees and shareholders. I am confident that they will continue to extend their market leadership in the future.”
J. Ryan Clark, Managing Director at Genstar Capital, commented, “AWL has differentiated itself in the marketplace with an extensive network of insurance carriers and agents that rely on its customer acquisition marketing to generate new business. We are excited to partner with Bill and the AWL management team to continue offering the insurance industry high quality and qualified consumers. The Company has a robust pipeline of potential add-on acquisitions, and we are already working with AWL to evaluate these opportunities.”
AWL CEO Bill Daniel, added, “For the past four years, Great Hill has been an outstanding partner for AWL, helping us grow both our company and our financial results tremendously. I am thankful to Great Hill and especially Peter Garran and Chris Gaffney for their support and guidance. I am also very excited to be embarking on our next phase of growth with the Genstar Capital team, led by Ryan Clark, as our new partners. Leveraging Genstar’s insurance industry expertise, I am confident we will deliver even greater value to our thousands of insurance customers in the future.”
Genstar is a leading investor in the insurance industry whose extensive investments in this sector include Acrisure, Financial Horizons Group, Innovative Aftermarket Systems, Insurity, and Palomar Specialty Insurance. Genstar exited its investment in Confie Seguros in 2012.
AWL was advised by GCA Savvian Advisors, LLC on the transaction.
Great Hill Partners is a private equity firm that has raised $4 billion in commitments since inception to finance the expansion, recapitalization, or acquisition of companies in a wide range of sectors in business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries including software, financial and healthcare technology, digital media, eCommerce, and internet infrastructure. Great Hill targets investments of $25 million to $150 million. For more information, please visit www.greathillpartners.com.
Genstar Capital is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for more than 20 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of operating executives and strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar manages funds with total capital commitments of over $3 billion and targets investments focused on selected sectors within the financial services, software, industrial technology, and healthcare industries.
MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Genstar:
Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations
914-834-4334
All Web Leads:
Cortney Johnson
Vice President, Finance
(512) 200-7011
Cortney.johnson@allwebleads.com
For Great Hill Partners:
Mary Kate Bertke
Vice President, Investor Relations
617-790-9466
mkbertke@greathillpartners.com
