Armstrong/Robitaille Buys Placentia’s Hilb, Rogal Unit

TUSTIN — Fast-growing Armstrong/Robitaille Insurance Services Inc. has acquired a Placentia firm, boosting itself into the ranks of the nation’s top 50 insurance brokers.

Armstrong/Robitaille acquired Hilb, Rogal & Hamilton Co. of Orange County, a unit of publicly traded Hilb, Rogal & Hamilton Co. in Glen Allen, Va. The local Hilb office also does business as Granger Hanna Insurance Associates. Terms were not disclosed.

The purchase puts the Tustin firm among the nation’s biggest insurance brokers in terms of business volume and in the number of employees, said John F. Armstrong, the company’s executive vice president.

In the last decade, the 18-year-old company has tripled its size through acquisitions and internal growth.

The company is a business and insurance advisor in risk management, employee benefits, human resource management and financial protection and planning. It has become a major writer of specialty programs nationwide.