Business Moves – South Central

Southport Lane, Lonestar Holdco, Dallas National

Southport Lane, a New York-based private equity firm, through its subsidiary Lonestar Holdco LLC, will acquire Dallas National Insurance Co., a Texas based property and casualty insurer.

Dallas National, a subsidiary of Dallas National Insurance Holdings, was founded in 2005. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

While the deal is subject to regulatory approval, it is anticipated to close early in the third quarter of this year.

A.M. Best Co. recently downgraded the financial strength rating to B-(Fair) from B (Fair) and issuer credit rating to “bb-” from “bb” of Dallas National. The ratings agency said the action was the result of Dallas National’s deteriorated and unfavorable risk-adjusted capitalization following volatility in its underwriting performance in recent years.

A.M. Best said the company experienced significant underwriting loss in 2011, and strengthened its loss and loss adjustment expense reserves at year-end 2011. These factors contributed to a sharp decline in policyholder surplus in 2011, according to A.M. Best.

Dallas National’s ratings will remain under review until the close of the transaction and the completion of A.M. Best’s analysis of its impact on the company’s ratings, the ratings agency said.

Personable Insurance, Endeavor General Agency

Excellere Partners, a Denver-based private equity firm, announced that its subsidiary, Personable Insurance, has acquired Endeavor General Agency LLC, a Royce City, Texas-based non-standard personal automobile managing general agency. The acquisition closed on May 16.

Personable, headquartered in San Diego, Calif., specializes in non-standard automobile insurance; the Endeavor acquisition is its second in the past six months.

Texas is the second largest non-standard auto insurance state in the United States, according to the Personable announcement.

Endeavor founder, John McKinney, will continue to work with Personable following the transaction on strategic matters and Michael Daul will serve as vice president of operations for Personable in Texas.

Personable Insurance provides non-standard personal auto insurance through independent agents in California, Texas, Georgia and Florida.

Chartis

AIG’s property/casualty division Chartis announced the launch of its hospitality and leisure industry practice group, which will provide specialized insurance and risk management products for the hotel, amusement, gaming, restaurant, resort and theme park segments.

Lance Ewing, former vice president of risk management of Harrah’s Entertainment, has been named U.S./Canada industry practice leader for this regional industry practice group.

Chartis stated that its industry practice group offers an efficient point of coordination for customers and brokers to best leverage the company’s global capabilities, and align the organization’s resources and objectives to respond to the voice of the industry.

The company said its new industry practice group’s capabilities extend well beyond basic insurance and risk management products. It will leverage expertise in engineering, safety, crisis and claims management, marketplace strategies as well as market analytics to present optimal approaches to managing risk, Chartis stated.