Business Moves – Midwest

Great American Insurance Group

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Great American Insurance Group’s environmental division opened a regional office in New York City.

The expansion complements the environmental division’s home office located in Plymouth Meeting, Penn., and its regional office in San Francisco.

The new regional office will be led by Shelli Hamilton, who has served in a senior underwriting role with Great American since the launch of its environmental division in 2008. She has prior experience with XL Environmental, as well as ECS.

Great American Insurance Group’s environmental division provides a comprehensive portfolio of environmental insurance products to a broad array of industries.

RSG Underwriting Managers, WKFC Underwriting Managers

Chicago-based Ryan Specialty Group’s subsidiary, RSG Underwriting Managers, is acquiring WKFC Underwriting Managers in New York. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Ryan Specialty Group is a global holding company, which includes a group of highly-specialized underwriting companies, a Lloyd’s insurer and other specialty services designed for agents, brokers and insurers. Its chairman and CEO is Patrick G. Ryan, the founder and retired chairman and CEO of Aon Corp.

WKFC is a managing general agency in the excess and surplus lines arena. Its focus is on property risks, general liability and specialty lines, such as windstorm and earthquake deductible buybacks, equipment breakdown, inland marine, professional liability, weather and special events programs.

Founded in 1994, WKFC is based on Long Island, N.Y. More than 90 percent of its business is written through a network of 150 wholesalers located throughout the country.

Main Street America, Austin Mutual

The Main Street America Group announced an affiliation with Minnesota-based Austin Mutual Insurance Co. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is subject to regulatory approval from the Minnesota insurance commissioner’s office, as well as Austin Mutual policyholders. A mid-2012 closing is projected.

Austin Mutual, founded in 1896, will maintain its brand name and continue to sell its products via its network of independent agents in nine Midwest and Western states. Austin Mutual Chairman, President and CEO Jeffrey Kusch will continue to oversee the company’s daily operations out of its Maple Grove, Minn., headquarters.There will also be a management and services agreement in place between the two companies, and Main Street America will provide Austin Mutual with quota share reinsurance.

Main Street America acquired Michigan-domiciled Great Lakes Casualty Insurance Co. in 2008, and affiliated with Indiana-domiciled Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Co. in 2009 and Minnesota-domiciled Spring Valley Mutual Insurance Co. in 2011.

BB&T Corp., Crump Group

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T Corp. has completed its previously announced acquisition of insurance businesses from Roseland, N.J.- based insurance wholesaler Crump Group.

BB&T said the deal creates the largest independent wholesale distributor of life insurance and one of the largest providers of wholesale commercial insurance brokerage and specialty programs in the country.

The deal was first announced on Feb. 3, 2012. BB&T paid $570 million in cash to complete the transaction, which included Crump Property/Casualty Insurance Services and Crump Life Insurance Services, along with the rights to the Crump brand name. Crump Group CEO John Howard is joining BB&T in a senior management role for insurance operations.

The deal does not include Crump’s retirement services business, Ascensus.

K2 Insurance Services, Midwestern Insurance Alliance

San Diego, Calif.-based managing general agent K2 Insurance Services LLC acquired a majority stake in Midwestern Insurance Alliance Inc., an MGA in Louisville, Ky., that underwrites workers’ compensation coverage with a focus on transportation.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The investment is the first for K2, formed in 2011 to invest in other MGAs and build a national insurance program business franchise. With the added capital support, Midwestern will expand its territory to 17 states, including Texas and California.

Fifty-two-year-old Midwestern reports annual gross written premiums of $35 million.

Midwestern previously underwrote business in Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee. In addition to California and Texas, its expanded territory now includes Alabama, Nevada, Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.