At 130 years old, Tabb, Brockenbrough & Ragland is about as old-school Richmond as it gets.
And although the Dickens Road-based insurance brokerage company was acquired this month by an out-of-town firm, the TB&R name was deemed to too valuable to retire.
“When you take a firm that has been marketing under that name literally since 1882, from a brand marketing standpoint we view that name as a true asset for us,” said D. Michael Sherman, chairman and chief executive of Cleveland-based Dawson Companies, which last week announced its acquisition of TB&R.
As part of the deal, which took a year and half to close, Dawson acquired TB&R’s book of business, which generates about $5.5 million in annual revenue. Dawson also gets TB&R’s 50 employees and its local headquarters.
“It’s an acquisition that was literally 18 months from the initial meeting to our conclusion,” Sherman said. “Given the fact that it was founded in 1882, I guess taking that long [to close] is something you could expect.”
The big kicker of the deal, according to R.C. Moore III, one of three owners of TB&R, was that the name had to live on. Dawson agreed and will make TB&R and Richmond the hub of its Mid-Atlantic expansion plans.
“That was part of this decision,” said Moore, who will become president of the TB&R division of Dawson Mid-Atlantic. “Having traded this long, we would never consider changing this name.”
As the story goes, according to Moore, TB&R was founded in Richmond in 1882 by T. Garnett Tabb, Thomas Brockenbrough and Stuart Ragland, primarily as a life insurance agency. Its first office was downtown on Main Street, across from what is now the Bank of America building.
‘It’s old Richmond,” Moore said. “I like to think of ourselves of being almost an icon in Richmond… We’re low-profile, though.”
Although the last living descendant of the original owners retired from company in the 1960s and ownership of the firm has changed hands five times in its history, it has always remained local, and that TB&R name always stuck.
Moore, along with his partners Robert Ramsey and Robert Quicke Jr., took ownership of TB&R in 1982.
“It does help the business to keep this name around,” Moore said.
TB&R has had a history of acquisitions, but in each previous case it was the buyer. Its most recent purchase was of local firm Duncan & Assoc. four years ago, Moore said.
As could be imagined over the course of 130 years, plenty of suitors looking to buy TB&R have come and gone.
“Never did any of that interest us until this conversation with Dawson,” Moore said. “We would have lost our identity.”
But with consolidation becoming more prevalent in the insurance industry, Moore said TB&R was faced with a decision about the firm’s future.
“It came about as to how do we grow and maintain this name going forward,” he said.
So now with its new larger backer – Dawson brings in about $30 million in annual revenue – TB&R is in hiring mode and acquisition mode.
“Our plans are to add additional operations, primarily through acquisition in Virginia and throughout the Mid-Atlantic,” Sherman said.
The deal was effective July 1. All the funds to be transferred as part of the acquisition will be moved July 25, Sherman said.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].
At 130 years old, Tabb, Brockenbrough & Ragland is about as old-school Richmond as it gets.
And although the Dickens Road-based insurance brokerage company was acquired this month by an out-of-town firm, the TB&R name was deemed to too valuable to retire.
“When you take a firm that has been marketing under that name literally since 1882, from a brand marketing standpoint we view that name as a true asset for us,” said D. Michael Sherman, chairman and chief executive of Cleveland-based Dawson Companies, which last week announced its acquisition of TB&R.
As part of the deal, which took a year and half to close, Dawson acquired TB&R’s book of business, which generates about $5.5 million in annual revenue. Dawson also gets TB&R’s 50 employees and its local headquarters.
“It’s an acquisition that was literally 18 months from the initial meeting to our conclusion,” Sherman said. “Given the fact that it was founded in 1882, I guess taking that long [to close] is something you could expect.”
The big kicker of the deal, according to R.C. Moore III, one of three owners of TB&R, was that the name had to live on. Dawson agreed and will make TB&R and Richmond the hub of its Mid-Atlantic expansion plans.
“That was part of this decision,” said Moore, who will become president of the TB&R division of Dawson Mid-Atlantic. “Having traded this long, we would never consider changing this name.”
As the story goes, according to Moore, TB&R was founded in Richmond in 1882 by T. Garnett Tabb, Thomas Brockenbrough and Stuart Ragland, primarily as a life insurance agency. Its first office was downtown on Main Street, across from what is now the Bank of America building.
‘It’s old Richmond,” Moore said. “I like to think of ourselves of being almost an icon in Richmond… We’re low-profile, though.”
Although the last living descendant of the original owners retired from company in the 1960s and ownership of the firm has changed hands five times in its history, it has always remained local, and that TB&R name always stuck.
Moore, along with his partners Robert Ramsey and Robert Quicke Jr., took ownership of TB&R in 1982.
“It does help the business to keep this name around,” Moore said.
TB&R has had a history of acquisitions, but in each previous case it was the buyer. Its most recent purchase was of local firm Duncan & Assoc. four years ago, Moore said.
As could be imagined over the course of 130 years, plenty of suitors looking to buy TB&R have come and gone.
“Never did any of that interest us until this conversation with Dawson,” Moore said. “We would have lost our identity.”
But with consolidation becoming more prevalent in the insurance industry, Moore said TB&R was faced with a decision about the firm’s future.
“It came about as to how do we grow and maintain this name going forward,” he said.
So now with its new larger backer – Dawson brings in about $30 million in annual revenue – TB&R is in hiring mode and acquisition mode.
“Our plans are to add additional operations, primarily through acquisition in Virginia and throughout the Mid-Atlantic,” Sherman said.
The deal was effective July 1. All the funds to be transferred as part of the acquisition will be moved July 25, Sherman said.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].