Business Moves
Alteris, Insurent
Alteris Inc., a provider for the managing general agency community, has partnered with Insurent Agency Corp. to offer an insurance program focused exclusively on guaranteeing residential leases.
Established in 2008, the Insurent Lease Guaranty Program offers financial guarantees to landlords on behalf of new tenants to satisfy financial requirements associated with leasing. The program carries benefits for both tenants and landlords, allowing credit-worthy tenants access to quality properties they would otherwise not be able to rent, and at the same time helping to reduce vacancies and rent loss, and to stabilize rental income at no cost to landlords.
Old Republic, PMA Capital
Pennsylvania-based PMA Capital Corp. has been acquired by Old Republic International Corp. in a stock-swap transaction valued at around $365 million.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, pending approval by PMA’s shareholders, and regulators.
PMA Capital Corp. is the holding company for several subsidiaries that specialize in workers’ compensation and other lines of property/casualty insurance as well as third-party administrator and other fee-based services.
Chicago-based Old Republic is an insurance holding company with subsidiaries that market, underwrite and provide risk management services for a wide variety of coverage, principally in the property and liability, mortgage guaranty and title insurance fields.
“We expect that this transaction will enable our shareholders to realize greater long-term value than if we continued to operate as a stand-alone entity,” PMA President and CEO Vincent Donnelly said. “We also believe that the additional financial strength and stability of a larger, well diversified company will benefit our clients, employees and other stakeholders.”
Following the closing, the company will continue to do business as the PMA Cos. and will maintain its corporate headquarters in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.
Old Republic Chairman and CEO Al Zucaro said that “we are extremely pleased to welcome PMA’s management and all of its associates to our family of companies. This merger is consistent with our long-term strategic plan to grow our General Insurance business. The alliance of our two companies results in a well capitalized insurance group appropriately positioned to take advantage of the many opportunities and synergies which will no doubt be available to us.”
CNA
CNA has opened a new branch office in Washington, D.C., a move aimed at extending the insurer’s geographic footprint and bringing it closer to its agents, brokers and customers.
George Agyen, Mid-Atlantic Zone officer, will head the Washington, D.C. branch.
Insight Insurance Consulting
Laurie Zangwill-Infantino, former president of the Insurance Skills Center (ISC), has formed a new consulting firm, Insight Insurance Consulting.
Insight Insurance Consulting will focus on professional development for agents and brokers, as well as insurance companies, staff and their clients. Throughout Zangwill-Infantino’s 30-year tenure as president of ISC, she designed and taught hundreds of insurance courses on both personal and commercial lines topics. She conducted audits for insurance brokers on specific accounts as well as operational procedures. She wrote the procedure manual used by ISC, which is widely used by agents and brokers to establish the correct standards and procedures for operating their firms. She has served as an expert witness and has been a guest writer for Insurance Journal for many years.
Vertafore, TPG Capital
Vertafore, a leading provider of software to the insurance industry, is being acquired by investment funds managed by TPG Capital.
TPG will purchase the company from Hellman & Friedman and its co-investor JMI Equity for a total consideration of $1.4 billion. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to customary regulatory approvals. Euan Menzies, president and CEO of Vertafore, said the company enjoyed “strong support of Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity over the past several years” and now welcomes its new partner, TPG. Vertafore provides software and information to the insurance distribution channel including independent agents, brokers, MGAs, carriers and reinsurers. It boasts more than 17,000 customers and 500,000 users.
NLC Insurance, Hingham Group
Two New England insurers have signed an affiliation agreement that they say will allow them to expand their capital base and combined footprints with agents in most of the six-state region. The agreement brings together Connecticut-based NLC Insurance Cos. and Massachusetts-based The Hingham Group. NLC comprises both the New London Country Mutual Insurance Co. and the Thames Insurance Co and sells insurance through approximately 300 Independent Agents in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
The Hingham Group, which consists of the Hingham Mutual Fire Insurance Co. and Danbury Insurance Co., writes homeowners, dwelling fire and – through its majority-owned subsidiary, Casco Indemnity Co. – private passenger automobile insurance products through 300 agents across New England. The companies said the agreement is expected to close in the third quarter, pending regulatory approval.
“We believe our two groups fit together nicely and will be able to exploit all the benefits an affiliation brings in terms of scalability, operational efficiencies, and geographical diversification for our policyholders and agents,” said NLC President Steve H. Chevalier.
In connection with the agreement, ratings agency A.M. Best Co. said the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” for NLC Insurance Cos. were unchanged. A.M. Best Co. has placed under review with positive implications the financial strength rating of B (Fair) and issuer credit rating of “bb” of The Hingham Group. Best also placed under review the financial strength rating (B+) and issuer credit rating of Casco Indemnity Co.