Business Moves

USI, Willis

USI Insurance Services has entered into an agreement with certain subsidiaries of Willis North America Inc., part of Willis Group Holdings, to acquire seven of Willis’ retail insurance brokerage locations across the United States. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

USI said these locations will expand USI’s footprint into new states, cities and markets where the firm is looking to invest and grow. The transaction is anticipated to close late 2014.

Under the agreement, USI will be acquiring the following locations: Wilmington, Del.; Vero Beach, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; Moline, Ill.; Wichita, Kan.; and Cheyenne and Mills, Wyo. Employees of those Willis offices will be offered employment with USI at the close of the transaction.

USI is headquartered in Valhalla, N.Y., and operates out of more than 140 offices across the United States.

MJB, Iroquois Group

MJB Financial and Insurance Advisors in Drexel Hill, Pa., has joined The Iroquois Group network, according to Michael Brown, agency principal.

M.L. Ruberton Agency of Hammonton, N.J., also joined The Iroquois Group. Founded in 1910, M.L. Ruberton Agency is a family owned insurance agency providing personal and commercial insurance to customers in South Jersey.

Los Angeles-based Select Guard Insurance Services LLC also has joined The Iroquois Group. Select Guard, division of Westwood Group LLC, offers insurance products with a focus on power sports vehicle insurance.

The Iroquois Group, which began in 1977, is a network of property/casualty insurance agencies composed of more than 2,000 member agencies in 39 states and more than 75 national, regional and specialty carrier-partners. Its headquarters is in Allegany, N.Y.

Garner, Bolton & Co.

Pasadena, Calif.-based Bolton & Co. has joined forces with Garner Consulting, an independent insurance agency that provides employee benefits and compliance services.

As part of the transaction, Garner Consulting Principal John Garner joins Bolton as chief compliance officer, and he his team will relocate to Bolton’s Pasadena office. Garner specializes in life, health and disability coverages.

Bolton is a partner of Assurex Global.

Onex Corp., York Risk Services

Toronto-based private equity firm Onex Corp. has agreed to acquire York Risk Services Group Inc. in Parsippany, N.J., for $1.33 billion.

York is a provider of risk management, claims management and managed care services. The transaction is anticipated to close in the third quarter.

York offers customized claims handling, managed care, specialized loss adjusting, risk pool administration, loss control, consulting and other risk management services. York provides these services to a variety of strategic partners including self-insured companies, public entities, insurance carriers, insurance pools, alternative risk groups and intermediaries.

Onex will make an equity investment of approximately $520 million through its Onex Partners III fund, with other partners as co-investors.

CNA, Continental, Wilton Re

CNA Financial Corp. has sold Conti-nental Assurance Co. to a subsidiary of Wilton Re Holdings. Additionally, Wilton Re Bermuda Ltd. will reinsure the run-off structured settlement annuities reinsured by a Bermuda-based subsidiary of CNA.

With the completion of the transaction, CNA has disposed of life and group non-core gross GAAP insurance reserves of $3.5 billion, or 23 percent, representing the majority of its payout annuity business.

As a result of the funds withheld basis used in the reinsurance transaction involving CNA’s Bermuda-based structured settlement annuities, CNA will recognize an after-tax charge of approximately $35 million in the third quarter. This represents the difference in market value and book value of the funds withheld assets at the reinsurance contract’s inception. In future periods, CNA will recognize income to the extent the funds withheld assets are sold, or the market value of those assets reduces to the maturity value of the securities.

Coverys, ELM Exchange

Coverys, a Boston-based medical professional liability insurer, has finalized an agreement to acquire ELM Exchange Inc. in Rockville, Md.

ELM provides customized online educational programs to help healthcare providers minimize clinical risk and maximize patient safety and satisfaction. Their programs service more than 95 client organizations representing approximately 1,000 hospitals, office practices and healthcare facilities throughout the country.

National Financial Partners

National Financial Partners Corp. announced the acquisitions of two independent insurance agencies in New England: Poulos Insurance Inc. and Altus Specialty Group LLC. Terms were not disclosed.

NFP said the acquisitions would help expand NFP’s property/casualty offerings.

Poulos Insurance, with 19 office locations throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, is an independent property/casualty agency providing personal and commercial lines coverage in New England.

Altus Specialty Group is based in Boston and provides commercial lines, employee benefits and private client risk management services. The firm will enhance NFP’s Boston-based insurance brokerage services to middle-market business clients.

NFP, based in New York, is a provider of benefits, insurance and wealth management services. It provides diversified advisory and brokerage services to companies and high-net-worth individuals.

In a separate announcement, NFP Corp. acquired Benefit Resources Inc., a Cincinnati-based insurance consulting and brokerage firm that has been a member of NFP’s Benefits Partners organization since 2008. The transaction closed on July 31, 2014.

Founded in 1988, Benefit Resources specializes in group benefits, human resources and benefit compliance, benefit administration and individual insurance.

The firm will continue to be led by Tim Marcagi, managing director, who will focus on strengthening corporate benefits in the Midwest.

Arthur J. Gallagher, Cowles & Connell

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Cowles & Connell based in Brewster, N.Y., and Meriden, Conn. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 1892, Cowles & Connell is a managing general agent and wholesale insurance broker that provides excess and surplus, property/casualty, professional business liability and other specialty insurance products and services to independent retail insurance broker clients nationwide.

Jo Ann Peri and her associates will continue to operate from their locations in Brewster; Meriden; Westampton, N.J.; and Wilbraham, Mass., under the direction of Joel Cavaness, president of Risk Placement Services Inc., a subsidiary of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Headquartered in Itasca, Ill., Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm with operations in 27 countries.

A.P. Michaud, Nancy Greenwood

A.P. Michaud Insurance Agency Inc., an independent insurance agency in Methuen, Mass., acquired Nancy Greenwood Insurance Agency, also based in Methuen. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

All current clients of Nancy Greenwood Insurance Agency will be moved to A.P. Michaud Insurance Agency. Nancy Greenwood, president of Nancy Greenwood Insurance Agency, will be retiring after 33 years in business.

A.P. Michaud Insurance Agency is a third-generation, family owned and operated independent agency serving customers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

A.P. Michaud Insurance Agency has been in the Merrimack Valley region since 1979 when Armand P. Michaud opened the agency. Trudy (Michaud) Lawler took the agency over from her father, and her daughter, Tricia Sabulis, joined the agency in 2006 to continue the family tradition. The firm offers personal and commercial insurance products including home, auto and business.

Linden Group Health, Digital Benefit Advisors

Linden Group Health Services has joined Digital Benefit Advisors (DBA), a division of Digital Insurance.

Digital acquired the Chicago firm, which specializes in group benefits solutions for small to mid-sized companies, and will open a second DBA office in Chicago, increasing the number of DBA locations across the country to 22.

Managing Principals Steve Van Spankeren and John Kann, along with their entire 35-member team, have aligned with DBA to provide clients expanded offerings and enhanced support.

Established in 1988, Linden services more than 600 clients and specializes in a variety of niche industries including fire protection districts, manufacturing, municipalities and housing authorities, nonprofits, professional service firms and schools.

Dhandho, Stonetrust Commercial Mutual Insurance

Stonetrust Commercial Mutual Insurance Holding Co. has agreed to be acquired by Dhandho Holdings LP and Dhandho Holdings Qualified Purchaser LP, based in Irvine, Calif.

Stonetrust is a Louisiana-based mutual insurance holding company and the parent company of Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Co.

Stonetrust Commercial Insurance provides workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance coverage to more than 5,100 policyholders in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

The $35 million cash acquisition will include Stonetrust Commercial Mutual Insurance Holding Co., Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Co., and Stonetrust Realty LLC, as well as Stonetrust Management Services LLC, the independently owned managing general agent.

The Stonetrust companies will become subsidiaries of a new stock holding company created by the Dhandho partnership. Stonetrust operations will remain unchanged and continue to be headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., under President and CEO Tim Dietrich.

The transaction will require approval of policyholders and the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Transaction proceeds will be paid to eligible policyholders.

Dhandho has further agreed to infuse an additional $30 million capital contribution into Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Co., thereby doubling total surplus to more than $60 million and providing an immediate boost to its premium to surplus ratio. Stonetrust anticipates the additional capital will facilitate its expansion plans and aid the company in achieving its goal of an “A” rating by the global credit rating agency A.M. Best. Stonetrust is currently rated “B++.”