Insurance brokerage giant Hub International secretly submitted an application for a US IPO, planning to raise funds for debt repayment.

Insurance brokerage company Hub International Holdings Inc., supported by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, has secretly submitted an initial public offering (IPO) application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The proceeds from the fundraising are expected to be used to reduce the company's debt burden. According to an announcement released last Friday evening, the Chicago-based company has submitted a registration statement with the SEC, but the issuance date, number of shares, and price range have not yet been determined. The announcement shows that the company plans to use the proceeds from this offering for various purposes including debt repayment. In May 2025, Hub received a minority equity investment of approximately $1.6 billion from a group of new and existing investors led by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc., Alpha Wave Global, and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek, with the company valued at $29 billion at the time. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisors for this round of financing. The insurance industry has always been an important source of supply for the U.S. IPO market. In June last year, insurance risk exchange Accelerant Holdings and some shareholders raised $832 million through an initial public offering; in September of the same year, flood insurance company Neptune Insurance Holdings Inc. completed a $423.7 million IPO. Hub International was formed by the merger of several Canadian brokerage companies in 1998, and has since expanded through continuous acquisitions and entry into the U.S. market. The company went public in the early 2000s and was acquired by Apax Partners and a division of Morgan Stanley in 2007. Hellman & Friedman first invested in 2013 when the company was valued at only $4.4 billion, and by 2023, with a minority equity investment from Leonard Green & Partners, the company's valuation had risen to $23 billion.