Higginbotham Insurance Group Inc. has acquired Ascend Insurance Brokerage, a Dallas-based firm specializing in placing insurance for the entertainment industry.

A Delaware judge, ruling for two different state courts, is permitting some charges filed by the previous owners of a Virginia brokerage acquired by AssuredPartners Inc. to continue, while dismissing others, in mixed rulings.

The Institutes is in talks to acquire the New York-based Insurance Information Institute, one of the few remaining independent trade associations representing the property/casualty industry, sources say.

Global claims manager McLarens said Friday it has acquired London-based Lloyd Warwick International Ltd., a specialist energy loss adjuster jointly owned by its employees and Crawford & Co.

French insurer Covea has walked away from its planned $9 billion purchase of PartnerRe, the Bermuda-based reinsurer owned by Exor, the holding firm of Italy’s Agnelli family, saying it could no longer buy under the terms of their agreement.

AssuredPartners Inc. has acquired Cypress Insurance Group Inc., a commercial and personal lines agency in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

NFP Corp. acquired LFG Inc., DBA Team Scotti, in a transaction that closed Dec. 1, NFP said in a statement Monday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.