Succession planning has led former IBNA member Premier Auspac Insurance Brokers to sell 80% of the business to insurance cluster rival Austbrokers.

Premier Auspac founder and MD David Harris told Sunrise Exchange News yesterday that he didn’t want to leave the IBNA network, but needed to “get serious about succession planning”.

“I don’t have any children wanting to take over the business, so we needed to look seriously at the future,” he said. “Austbrokers provides a very solid platform to ensure businesses continue to grow and move forward, and that was important to us.”

He says the move will allow further expansion of Premier Auspac in Queensland. “The sale ensured the business wouldn’t get swallowed up, which can happen with other acquisition models.”

It’s the second member IBNA has lost to Austbrokers – which uses a unique owner-driver model that allows the original owner to run the business after they have sold a proportion of the business to the cluster. Last year Austbrokers also secured a share in the NSW-based Salisbury Payne Tinslay.

Mr Harris says IBNA is likely to examine ways to encourage brokers who are thinking of selling to stay with the cluster. “I believe they are looking at options.”

Although the price of the sale, which was funded from existing cash resources, hasn’t been disclosed, the Australian Financial Review reported the transaction was valued at more than $4 million.

Austbrokers says the acquisition is a significant step in the group’s plans to expand its Queensland operations.