American Union Makes Tender Offer for Meridian Ins. Group

American Union Insurance Co. will start on Thursday a $20 per share cash tender offer for the common stock of Indianapolis-based Meridian Insurance Group Inc.

Illinois-based American Union acted after negotiations of a possible business combination, ongoing since April, had been “consistently frustrated,” the company said.

American Union Chairman and President Gregory Shepard pledged in a news release he would maintain the aggregate employment of the current Meridian operations add more jobs in the Indianapolis area over the next few years. As of June 30, Meridian had about 7.9 million common shares outstanding and up to about 1.3 million common shares were issuable under various incentive plans. The offer will expire on Sept. 29.