Marsh, the insurance brokerage and risk advisory unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies, has agreed to acquire HSBC Insurance Brokers for £135 million ($218 million) in stock and cash.

HIBL is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank and holds a prominent market position across the Asian region. It has offices in Hong Kong, Mainland China, India, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

The deal remains subject to regulatory approvals; but under the terms of a separate Preferred Strategic Partnership between the two companies, Marsh will gain preferred access to provide insurance broking and risk management services to HSBC's corporate and private clients.

"As a leading insurance broker in Asia, HIBL's activities dovetail excellently with our own," said Alex Moczarski, the president of Marsh's international division. "This is a strong complementary fit and will deepen our global presence in high growth areas."

The resulting entity is expected to be particularly strong in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Singapore - three of the fastest growing economies in the region, Marsh said in a statement.

"The beauty of this agreement is that on the one hand we are improving the breadth and sophistication of HSBC broking services for our customers, while at the same time sharpening our strategic focus on the bancassurance model with emphasis on life, pensions and investments," said Clive Bannister, the group managing director for insurance at HSBC Holdings.

The deal will likely be finalised by the first quarter of 2010.