Insurance
Home›Insurance›Industry & Deals›Third Wave expands Gulf Coast with five agency acquisi…
Third Wave expands Gulf Coast with five agency acquisitions
The deal is notable for adding self-funded health plan administration through the target agencies, moving Third Wave beyond distribution into a capability many brokers currently outsource.
Third Wave Insurance has agreed to acquire five insurance and advisory agencies across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, expanding the firm into a Gulf Coast platform covering commercial property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, wealth management, and self-funded health plan administration. The acquisitions are designed to create a larger regional footprint under the Palmer & Cay brand, overseen by Jack Cay and the brokerage's existing management team, after the transactions close. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The most consequential element for brokers is Third Wave's vertical integration into plan administration, a function the article says many brokers typically refer out rather than own. The expansion follows TPG Growth's launch of Third Wave around six months earlier, with Palmer & Cay as the flagship retail brokerage, and TPG had said the platform would grow through both organic efforts and acquisitions.
The five-agency expansion includes Massad Olinde in Baton Rouge, Acuity Group in Ridgeland, AWS in the New Orleans market, Spielmann & Associates in Lafayette, and Alexander Financial Group in Orlando. Acuity Group also includes BAS, a third-party administrator for self-funded health plans, giving Third Wave an in-house administrative capability alongside its employee benefits brokerage operations.
The article places the deal against a softer backdrop for insurance distribution transactions, citing OPTIS Partners data reported by Insurance Journal. Buyers announced 292 insurance agency transactions in the United States and Canada during the first half of 2026, down 15% from the same period in 2025, and the lowest first-half total since 2016. It also notes that self-funded health plans represent a large share of the employer market, citing KFF data for 2025. Among workers with employer-sponsored coverage, 67% were enrolled in self-funded plans, including 80% at companies with at least 200 employees.