Illinois firm acquires Detlefs Johnson Partners

Baton Rouge insurance, employee benefits and consulting firm Detlefs Johnson & Partners has been acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an Itasca, Ill.-based firm with operations in 17 countries. Phil Detlefs says the acquisition brings Detlefs Johnson & Partners expanded resources, while allowing its operations to remain autonomous. The firm will not make any personnel changes at its local office, and will go under the name Detlefs Johnson & Partners, a division of Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. “We’ve been approached about an acquisition before and decided it wasn’t in our best interest; but the caliber of this company is international, and the acquisition really allows us to have the best of both worlds,” Detlefs says. The acquisition will also give Gallagher & Co. added reach and resources in the retirement planning and employee benefits sectors of its business, Detlefs says. Gallagher & Co. Chairman, President and CEO Patrick Gallagher Jr. says the acquisition is part of a merger strategy “designed to add depth to our geographic presence and our client capabilities.” The acquisition comes a little more than a year after Detlefs Johnson & Partners was created via a December 2010 merger between Gary Johnson & Associates and Detlefs & Company Benefit Resources—a pair of Baton Rouge firms that had been friendly competitors for more than three decades. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. —Steve Sanoski