THE WORLD’S largest insurance broker AON has acquired Dublin business insure.ie for an undisclosed sum.

Aon yesterday announced the acquisition of the Mike Murphy Insurance group, which includes online brokerage Insure.ie.

The Mike Murphy Insurance group is a family business employing about 80 people in Sandyford, Co Dublin, and the takeover will bring AON’s Irish workforce to more than 600.

It will also enable AON to tap into the personal lines insurance market, which includes motor and home insurance, through Insure.ie.

“It will give us a platform to enter that market, which is 50 per cent of the total insurance market,” said Richard Endersen, managing director of AON in Ireland.

AON already has bases in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick and Mullingar and operates in the commercial insurance segment of the market. Without this acquisition, Aon would not have the expertise to enter the personal lines market, Mr Endersen added.

“With this investment, AON now has a real presence with the scale, systems and expertise in the personal lines market that will allow AON to grow significantly,” he said.

Insure.ie already has more than 100,000 policyholders across motor, home, travel and health insurance.

The Mike Murphy Insurance group was founded by Mr Murphy in 1973 and has grown to become one of the largest insurance brokerages in Ireland. Mr Murphy will remain on with the business.

Declan Cahill, who worked as director of AA Insurance in Ireland for 30 years, is to join Insure.ie as its new chief executive. However, there will be no further changes to the senior management team. Job losses and redundancies will not arise as a result of the acquisition.

In a statement yesterday, AON said it was “not buying the business to stand still”.

The Chicago-headquartered group intends to continue expanding its insurance business in Ireland. The deal follows the recent opening of AON’s Global Centre of Innovation and Analytics in Dublin and its acquisition of Hewitts.