Glen Allen specialty insurance company Markel Group said Tuesday it has reached a deal to acquire a majority stake in Valor Environmental, a sediment and erosion control company headquartered in Winter Springs, Florida.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the month.
While Markel focuses on insurance, it has used the capital base from that line to invest in a wide variety of other businesses under its Markel Ventures umbrella. That has drawn comparisons to a specialty insurance giant with a portfolio spanning disparate other businesses: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Valor is the 20th company to join the Markel Ventures’ portfolio, which also includes Richmond companies like technology consulting business CapTech Ventures, homebuilder Eagle Construction, housing community manager ParkLand Ventures, building products company Lansing Building Products and concierge medicine firm PartnerMD. Other portfolio companies include Boston handbag maker Brahmin and Miami potted plant firm Costa Farms.
Valor, which was founded in 2003, counts 700 employees and more than 2,000 customers. President Kirk Foster said in a statement the deal positions his company for “significant” growth opportunities.
"When land is developed, Mother Nature has a way of moving dirt, water, and everything that comes with it to places we don't want it to go. Luckily, our partners at Valor work every day to help their customers avoid unnecessary environmental impact and costly project delays," Markel Group CEO Tom Gayner said in a statement. "Valor takes our Ventures family to twenty companies in nearly twenty years — a point in our journey worth celebrating."
Markel posted $4.47 billion in revenue during the first quarter, with $1.14 billion of that attributable to Markel Ventures.