A Dallas-based general agency has “established ourselves as a dominant player” in North Jersey with its acquisition of NAS Financial Services, a general agency based in Morristown, N.J., according to its president and CEO.

Bernard DiFiore

“New Jersey and its proximity to New York, the homogeneous marketplace, and putting ourselves in a position of dominance in the market, that’s something that this acquisition gives us,” Bernard DiFiore, BenefitMall’s president and CEO, told IFAwebnews.com. “It was a real smart decision on our part.”

NAS Financial Services is a general agency that provides group health, life and disability products in the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania markets. In Pennsylvania, the deal will mean additional resources for existing clients, while in New Jersey and New York, the combining of the two companies’ complementary resources and technology, as well as increased carrier relationships, will enable it to expand greatly, DiFiore said.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The two companies had been competitors in Northern New Jersey.

BenefitMall, which already employs about 25 to 30 people in seven offices in New Jersey and New York, wanted to “reaffirm our commitment to the Northeast region,” DiFiore said.

Expanding the presence of BenefitMall, the largest general agency in the country, serving 33 U.S. markets in 11 states, in New Jersey through its own offices “would take too long,” DiFiore said.

The company now boasts a “strong footprint,” according to DiFiore, from Northern Virginia through Washington, D.C., and Maryland, and up into Delaware, New Jersey and New York, according to DiFiore. It boosted its mid-Atlantic presence in 2000, when it bought The Mather Cos., a regional agency and third-party administrator based in Hunt Valley, Md. BenefitMall now works with more than 15,000 independent brokers.

The NAS Financial Services sign was replaced by a BenefitMall sign March 13, two days before the deal was announced publicly, according to DiFiore. “We try to start integrating as quickly as possible,” he added.

DiFiore said he had been talking with representatives of NAS Financial Services for more than a year before the deal was worked out. As part of the deal, Ken French, co-founder, president and CEO of NAS Financial Services, will be responsible for handling the transition and integration of the Morristown office, employing about 30 people, while Jim Stenger, NAS Financial Services’ co-founder and executive vice president, will be responsible for broker relations and development, DiFiore said.

“As one of the largest national employee benefits general agencies, BenefitMall offers us the opportunity to expand our products and services across state lines,” French said in a statement, adding that the move was “the next step” for the company. The company was founded in 1989.