Business Moves – East
OneBeacon, Markel Corp.
Bermuda-domiciled OneBeacon Insurance Group Ltd. is selling its Essentia Insurance Co. unit to Glen Allen, Va.-headquartered Markel Corp.
Essentia focuses on the collector car and boat business that the company writes through Traverse City, Mich.-based Hagerty Insurance Agency and Hagerty Classic Marine Insurance Agency. Hagerty has not been sold and continues to be a privately-owned family business.
OneBeacon said it will retain the loss reserves and unearned premium reserves associated with the business written prior to the sale of Essentia and run them off in the normal course. OneBeacon said it anticipates recording a $23 million pretax gain on the sale.
The deal is expected to be completed in January 2013. Markel said Essentia will continue to underwrite insurance exclusively for Hagerty Insurance Agency and Hagerty Classic Marine Insurance Agency.
Arthur J. Gallagher, Park Row
Itasca, Ill.-headquartered global insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Park Row Associates Inc. in Providence, R.I., from its parent company, Delta Dental of Rhode Island.
Park Row is an employee benefits insurance broker that offers a wide range of group employee benefits products and consulting services to their clients, located primarily in the Northeastern states. Park Row represents Arthur J. Gallagher’s first Rhode Island benefit operation.
National Indemnity, Clal U.S. Holdings
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department approved the pending deal by Israel’s Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings to sell its U.S. unit to Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s National Indemnity Co.
The deal to sell off Clal’s U.S. unit — Clal U.S. Holdings Inc. — to National Indemnity Co. for $221 million was announced last August. Clal U.S. Holdings Inc., based in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., owns GUARD Insurance Group, which Clal purchased in 2007 for $120 million. GUARD offers small- to medium-sized commercial property and casualty accounts.
Ebix, Silanis
Atlanta-based insurance software and e-commerce platform supplier Ebix Inc. is partnering with electronic-signature services provider Silanis.
Ebix said Silanis’ technology will now become the preferred e-signature functionality within Ebix’s on-demand offerings. Silanis’ e-signature technology and services are currently responsible for processing over 600 million documents around the world annually. Silanis is headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with main U.S. offices in McLean, Va.