Steadfast says its acquisition of Community Broker Network (CBN) from IAG will strengthen and improve efficiencies in Australia’s largest authorised representative group.

“While CBN worked autonomously as part of IAG, a more natural home is within a broker network such as Steadfast,” CEO Robert Kelly said.

As reported in a Breaking News bulletin on Tuesday, CBN GM Distribution Richard Crawford will become CEO under the ownership change, taking over from Paul Ayton, who has left.

Mr Kelly says Steadfast has a strong record of acquiring businesses that successfully compete against each other while operating independently.

“The addition of CBN further strengthens our network and, importantly, it encourages robust competition from ethical authorised representatives able to service the needs of small to medium-size businesses,” he said.

CBN, which was already a Steadfast member, has 367 authorised representatives placing about $418 million of premium on behalf of 135,000 SME clients.

The group was formed last year following IAG’s acquisition of Perth-based Westcourt General Insurance Brokers in July 2016. Under Mr Ayton Westcourt was merged with IAG’s National Adviser Services and rebranded as CBN.

IAG says as it makes sense for a standalone business like CBN to be part of a broker network.

“Our decision to sell CBN to Steadfast reflects our strategy, which is to focus on our core operations,” a spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.