OVERSEAS TO BUY RELIANCE RE

Bermuda-based Overseas Partners Ltd (OPL) has agreed to acquire Reliance Reinsurance Co. from Reliance Insurance Co., but will not assume the existing liabilities of either company. The amount paid by OPL has not been revealed, but the main asset it has acquired is the staff of 50 professionals, located in Philadelphia, who currently manage and underwrite Reliance Re, which specializes in property and casualty treaty, casualty facultative and agricultural reinsurance. The addition gives OPL a reinsurance management facility in the U.S., which is larger than its current operation in Bermuda, and the authority, subject to regulatory approval, to write reinsurance in all 50 states and Washington DC, as well as insurance in over 40 states.