Fla.’s Citizens Gets Line of Credit

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance said this week it has lined up $1 billion in credit and closed a deal to issue bonds for nearly another billion to pay hurricane claims if needed.

The state-backed company is now Florida’s largest property insurer.

Citizens Chief Financial Officer Sharon Binnun said the company closed the two separate deals, giving the company a total of more than $9.4 billion readily available to pay storm claims if needed.

In one transaction, the company lined up a $1 billion line of credit with a syndicate of banks led by Citigroup and J.P. Morgan. In the other, it announced a $950 million taxable auction-rate bond issue with a group of investment banks led by Citigroup.