Outsource services provider OSG Group has been acquired by US company Sedgwick. Established in 1984, OSG now employs more than 400 people in Ireland across eight offices - providing outsourced services to firms in the insurance sector. It currently has around 200 clients in Ireland and abroad, including Axa, AIG and RSA.
"This is probably an obvious next stage in the development of the company," said Malcolm Hughes, CEO of OSG Group. "We have expanded the company within the local market and we're a big player within the Irish market but this is a big opportunity to diversify further and expand into what is becoming an increasingly globalised market, particularly in the financial services and insurance side."
Sedgwick, meanwhile, has been in existence for even longer than OSG, with its origins going back to the late 1960s. Today it employs over 13,000 people and has 2,600 clients. The bulk of its business has been focused on North America but by acquiring OSG, it hopes to begin to change that. "OSG have been partners of ours in our international network for over a decade - they have best-in-class service in claims administration and loss adjusting and they give us a leading-edge service capability to help service our clients globally," said Mike Arbour, divisional president of international accounts for Sedgwick.
The company's location was also important, he said, as the country was a good place from which to begin a broader expansion. "Ireland and Dublin in particularly is clearly a sophisticated insurance and financial centre and gateway to Europe. As we look at the next stage of our expansion beyond North America this was clearly a great step for us," he said.
As part of the takeover, Malcolm Hughes will remain head of the Irish arm, though the name above the door is likely to change. He is also expecting to see the size of his workforce grow soon, too, as the business expands under its new owner. "Hopefully this will allow us to expand," he said. "Our objective now is to attract as much business as we can, both into OSG and into Ireland, and that will allow us to create more employment opportunities for people."
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