Liberty Mutual Insurance Finalizes Its Acquisition of AMTrust Surety
The deal struck between Liberty Mutual and AMTrust Surety, which would see Massachusetts number one Surety insurer acquire the U.S. Surety operations of AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. is has been finalized. On April 15, 2019, the Boston-based insurer announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AmTrust’s global Surety and credit reinsurance operations. The additional portions of the acquisition, which include AmTrust Insurance Spain, Nationale Borg, and Nationale Borg Reinsurance are expected to close in the second half of 2019.
“Completing the acquisition of the U.S. operations of AmTrust Surety enhances our strong U.S. surety expertise and market leadership, and allows us to better serve our valued U.S. distribution partners and customers,” notes Tim Mikolajewski, President, Global Surety, Liberty Mutual. “When the full scope of the acquisition is complete later this year, it will provide us with an expanded geographic footprint and further strengthen our best-in-class operation.”
The Hartford Finalizes Its Acquisition of Navigators
Continuing on deal closings, The Hartford also announced just before the Memorial Day holiday that it had finalized its acquisition of global specialty underwriter, The Navigators Group. Effective on May 23rd, the deal closed for $70 a share, resulting in a total price of $2.2 billion in cash, including expenses. Going forward, the newly combined property and casualty business, both in the U.S. and internationally, will be marketed under The Hartford brand while reinsurance and U.S. wholesale businesses will be known as “Navigators, a brand of The Hartford.”
“Today, we welcome more than 800 Navigators employees across the globe to The Hartford,” said The Hartford’s President Doug Elliot. “Our combined capabilities and shared commitment to underwriting excellence enable The Hartford to offer a more diversified array of products through a broader distribution network, with an expanded geographic reach.”
As announced in February, The Hartford’s former Specialty Commercial and Middle Market businesses, along with Navigators operations, are now aligned around two new market-facing businesses – Middle & Large Commercial and Global Specialty. Middle & Large Commercial will focus on delivering workers’ compensation, general liability, auto liability, property insurance, and umbrella to midsize and large businesses through retail agents and brokers. Global Specialty will provide a comprehensive selection of specialty products through retail and wholesale channels. Together, these businesses will enable our distribution partners to provide the specialized solutions they need to help their clients manage risks.
AM Best Reaffirms Ratings For MAPFRE, Allstate, & Liberty Mutual
AM Best reaffirmed its Ratings for the following insurers in May:
- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a” of the main property/casualty members of MAPFRE U.S.A. Group (MAPFRE U.S.A.). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The lead company in MAPFRE U.S.A. is The Commerce Insurance Company (Webster, MA) and includes inter-company pooling members, Citation Insurance Company (Webster, MA), Commerce West Insurance Company (San Ramon, CA), American Commerce Insurance Company (Columbus, OH), MAPFRE Insurance Company of Florida (Miami, FL) and MAPFRE Insurance Company (Florham Park, NJ).
- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “a” of most of the members of Liberty Mutual Insurance Companies (Liberty Mutual). These entities are operating subsidiaries of their ultimate parent company, Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc. (LMHC) (Boston, MA). Concurrently, AM Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICRs of “bbb” of LMHC and Liberty Mutual Group, Inc. (LMGI) (Boston, MA), a wholly owned subsidiary of LMHC, as well as the Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IR) of LMGI. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. (See link below for a detailed listing of the companies and ratings.)
- AM Best affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “aa” of the members of Allstate Insurance Group (Allstate).
- Additionally, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICRs of “a” of the members of Allstate New Jersey Insurance Group (collectively referred to as Allstate New Jersey) (headquartered in Bridgewater, NJ). Concurrently, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICRs of “aa” of the key life/health members of the Allstate Life Group (Allstate Life). At the same time, AM Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICR of “a,” and all existing Long- and Short-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IR; Short-Term IR) of the ultimate parent, The Allstate Corporation (Allcorp). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
