Business Moves

Berkshire Hathaway, Swiss Re

Berkshire Hathaway has acquired a 3 percent stake in Swiss Re. Swiss Re has also entered into a reinsurance contract with Berkshire Hathaway which will give it a share of Swiss Re’s property/casualty business.

Swiss Re said that the capital released as a result of this reinsurance contract will be used to buy back shares.

Berkshire Hathaway reported that it holds 3.03 percent of the voting rights of Swiss Re, which it acquired through its subsidiary Columbia Insurance Co.

Under the proportional reinsurance contract Swiss Re signed with Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshire Hathaway will assume a 20 percent share of all Swiss Re’s property/casualty business for the next five years. The contract is effective as of Jan. 1, 2008. This will lead to a reduction in the capital deployed in Swiss Re’s P/C business.

Donegal Mutual, Atlantic States

Donegal Group Inc., based in Marietta, Pa., is moving to amend the intercompany pooling agreement between Donegal Mutual and Atlantic States Insurance Co., its largest insurance subsidiary.

Subject to approval by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, the proposed amendment will increase Atlantic States’ share of the intercompany pool from 70 percent to 80 percent effective March 1, 2008.

Donegal Mutual and Atlantic States have participated in a pooling agreement since 1986. Based upon current pooled premium levels, Atlantic States is expected to receive an additional allocation of approximately $30 million annually. Under the new pooling agreement, Donegal Mutual will transfer approximately $12 million to Atlantic States, which will result in a modest increase to Atlantic States’ investment income from that date forward.

Donegal Group Inc.’s subsidiaries operate in five Mid-Atlantic states (Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania), eight Southeastern states (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) and five Midwestern states (Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakota).

NSM Insurance, Clean Streets

NSM Insurance Group in Conshohocken, Pa. has acquired the Pavement Maintenance Insurance Agency (PMI), program administrator for the Clean Streets Program. The Clean Streets Program targets power sweeping, line striping, seal coating, catch basin services and paving/pavement resurfacing.

Brown & Brown, LDP Consulting

Florida-based insurance agency Brown & Brown has acquired LDP Consulting group, Inc., of New Jersey. LDP Consulting Group, with annualized revenues of approximately $12.8 million, specializes in selling employee benefits, with a target market of school districts throughout the Garden State.

LDP Consulting Group with offices in Lambertville, Livingston and Shrewsbury, N.J., will be a new freestanding Brown & Brown subsidiary, with Louis E. Della Penna, Sr., Louis E. Della Penna, Jr., and their staff continuing to operate from their existing locations.