Hayden Smith, CEO of United Risk, an international property and casualty insurance underwriting and distribution platform, announced that the company has signed an agreement to acquire DUAL North America’s crisis management program and underwriting team.
Once acquired, the division will be renamed First Product Protection and will operate as a separate division within United Risk, adding product recall and contaminated product coverage to United Risk’s product portfolio.
Target business categories include food and beverages, transportation (aviation, aerospace, rail, automotive), consumer and industrial electronics and appliances, communications equipment, sports and entertainment equipment, apparel, footwear, toys and furniture.
The transaction is expected to close in early 2026. First Product Protection will be headquartered in United Risk’s offices at 50 Rockefeller Center in New York.
Smith said the program’s founders, Mark LeBlanc and Robley Moore, are expected to assume leadership roles at First Product Protection.
Headquartered at United Risk’s Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in New York, LeBlanc has more than 25 years of industry experience specializing in product contamination, product recalls, safety risk management and crisis management.
Most recently, he served as Managing Director of DUAL Group. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Crisis Management at Swiss Re. Earlier in his career, he worked at Crum & Forster, CV Starr, Hiscox, Marsh and AIG.
Moor, who is based in the firm’s London office, has more than 25 years of professional underwriting and insurance leadership experience.
He works at DUAL UK in London, most recently as Managing Director of Crisis Management. Prior to that, Moor spent two decades at Swiss Re in a variety of senior roles, including head of North America Casualty with responsibility for product leadership in the U.S. and Canada and senior key account manager.
Smith commented: “Program leadership and underwriting and claims staff will join United Risk to ensure continued operations for all brokers and insureds.”
Jamie Sahara, chairman of United Risk, said: “Mark and Robley have built a very attractive business from an entrepreneurial perspective. United Risk’s value lies in quality and diversity and First Product Protection immediately adds value to the business by complementing United Risk’s strong program managers, diverse business lines, diverse front office, reinsurance and broker rosters, while further strengthening the business links with Lloyd’s.”
John Johnson, CEO of DUAL North America, added: “This transaction is a strategic step in our broader focus on DUAL’s core growth areas, including our other commercial property, casualty and financial businesses, and emerging specialty markets. We are proud of the exceptional team and strong business that DUAL Crisis Management has built over the past few years, and we believe they will continue to thrive as part of United Risk. United Risk has been an excellent partner and it is clear that this is a great fit for our business.”
Howden Capital Markets & Advisory serves as the exclusive financial advisor to DUAL North America.
