A Nashville, Tenn.-based insurance broker has bought Bowling Greens Van Meter Insurance. Van Meter, one of the countrys top 75 privately held insurance companies, will boost its parent company, Synaxis Group, into the top 20, according to the company. But the deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, wont bring any changes to Van Meters 79 employees or its name, Van Meter President Gerald Heming said. As part of Fridays deal, Chairman William B. Chip Van Meter was given stock in Synaxis and will continue with the company, focusing on product development and marketing initiatives. If anything, existing customers should see an improvement in services because we can draw in expertise from the other affiliated agencies, Heming said. Synaxis, with offices in three states, also owns the Polk and Sullivan Group in Nashville and Merritt & McKenzie Inc. in Atlanta. The addition of Van Meter, with annual revenues of $13 million, will boost Synaxis revenues to more than $32 million annually, according to a news release from the company. One job of the Van Meter agency which has offices in Lexington, Owensboro and Brentwood, Tenn. will be to acquire other insurance companies in Kentucky. Theyve given us a direction but are allowing us to get there as we see fit, Heming said. Van Meter is a very large insurance agency, and that will allow us to help smaller, community-based agencies say in Scottsville, Elizabethtown or even parts of Louisville. We can use our expertise in marketing carriers. … Our management team can offer the expertise that a smaller agency might not have. The Van Meter agencys strength also is expected to help Synaxis across the region, Synaxis Chairman David D. Haynes said…. Van Meter has an excellent reputation throughout the southeast, he said. This will help us to attract additional acquisitions across the region. As part of the agreement, Synaxis also acquired Employers Risk Services, a third-party administrator affiliated with Van Meter. ERS, with 40 employees in Bowling Green and Lexington, helps clients with comprehensive cost-containment management programs for property, casualty and health insurance. It also designs insurance programs devoted to risk pooling. With the acquisitions, Synaxis will serve 25,000 customers.