Eastern Insurance acquires Brockton firm
Natick-based Eastern Insurance Group LLC said Thursday it has acquired Smith Buckley & Hunt, a 12-person insurance agency based in Brockton.
Eastern said the acquisition will boost its customer base south of Boston, where it already has 10 locations. This is the latest acquisition for Eastern, which said it has taken over 34 companies over the past two decades and is now the largest Massachusetts-based insurance agency.
“Brockton is a natural extension of the markets that we now serve, so this was an attractive opportunity to partner with a successful agency with an excellent reputation in the Metro South Region,” Hope Aldrich, Eastern’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
Eastern Insurance is a subsidiary of Boston-based Eastern Bank.
Smith Buckley’s office at 500 Forest St. in Brockton will remain open and be rebranded as an Eastern Insurance location later this year. Once that is complete, Eastern will have 24 locations in New England.
Smith Buckley was founded in 1875 and has been owned by the Smith family since 1922. Two of the company’s principals will remain with the company post-merger, Eastern said, while the third will retire.
The merger should provide Eastern customers with access to a broader range of insurance products and services, Aldrich said. Smith Buckley sells auto, home and business insurance, as well as employee benefits packages.
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