Arkansas Insurance Regulators OK Allied World, Vantapro Specialty Acquisition

The Arkansas Insurance Department has approved the acquisition of two domestic affiliated companies, Allied World Surplus Lines Insurance (AWSLIC) and Vantapro Specialty Insurance Co., by Swiss and Canadian companies.

AWSLIC and Vantapro are each an Arkansas domiciled insurance company and are each a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, a Swiss-based corporation involved in a merger with Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. based in Toronto, Canada.

On June 14, the department approved a transaction where Fairfax would first acquire control of AWSLIC and Vantapro by acquiring all outstanding ordinary shares of Allied World and merging Allied World into Fairfax (Switzerland) GmbH, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings through Financial Holdings (Switzerland) GmbH.

Fairfax would then enter into a subscription agreement with the Ontario (Canada) Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) Administration Corporation through its subsidiary OCM Goldfish Inc. for a $1 billion investment for 21 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of Financial Holdings (Switzerland) GmbH.

During a public hearing on the proposed acquisition on June 8, both Fairfax and OMERS testified that they had no plans or proposals to liquidate AWSLIC or Vantapro; sell, consolidate, or merge their assets; or make any changes to the businesses, corporate structures or management.

The acquisition must still be approved by Delaware, New Hampshire, and four foreign governments.

Source: Arkansas Insurance Department