Dell Family Office and Sequence Holdings will acquire a majority stake in US broker The Baldwin Group in a deal valuing the company at about $US7.7 billion ($10.8 billion), as it seeks to further harness artificial intelligence. 

CEO Trevor Baldwin says the firm is in a unique position to build on its existing position and accelerate AI investments to drive profitable growth, with the private firms’ investment to “make that advantage tangible”. 

“DFO’s long-duration, founder-aligned capital funds the investment at the pace this moment requires, while Sequence’s dedicated technology team stands ready to help us execute on it,” he says in a letter to stakeholders.  

The deal comprises an equity purchase of about $US4.6 billion ($6.5 billion) and about $US3.1 billion ($4.3 billion) of net debt assumed or refinanced in connection with the all-cash transaction. 

The total enterprise value represents an implied multiple of approximately 20 times Baldwin’s trailing-twelve-month adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. 

Mr Baldwin says moving faster on AI sharpens what the firm delivers for clients and “elevates the work our colleagues do every day”. 

“AI will change how work is done in our industry more than any technology in its history, and it will change it for the better,” he said. 

DFO is the family investment office of Dell Technologies founder, chairman, and CEO Michael Dell. 

“Baldwin has built something rare in insurance distribution: a genuine data and platform advantage, compounded over 15 years, led by a team with a clear and differentiated vision,” Mr Dell said. “DFO invests with the flexibility and patience of permanent capital, not as a fund working against a fixed exit clock.” 

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year, with Baldwin shares to cease trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange as it returns to private ownership. 

Baldwin, based in Tampa, Florida, says it represents more than 3 million clients in the US and internationally.