American Safety Insurance Acquires Oklahoma’s Victore Insurance Co.

Bermuda-based American Safety Insurance Holdings Ltd. reported that its American Safety Casualty Insurance Company (ASCIC) subsidiary has acquired, for cash, Victore Insurance Company (VIC), an Oklahoma domiciled admitted insurance company headquartered in Oklahoma City.

VIC provides customized bonding solutions for the surety bond industry. VIC specializes in contract surety for general contractors and sub-contractors, and also provides other types of bonds such as oil and gas, court, and license and permit bonds.

In conjunction with the purchase of VIC, ASCIC also acquired Victore Enterprises Inc., an Oklahoma-based holding company, and Agency Bonding Company Inc., an Oklahoma-based insurance agency specializing in providing surety agency services, primarily for VIC (together with VIC collectively referred to as the Victore Companies).

ASI does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its 2009 earnings.

Victore was formed in 1986 to address the requirements of many Oklahoma contractors whose bonding needs were not being met adequately by the standard market. Standard surety underwriters considered many Oklahoma contractors and sub-contractors as too small and thus were unwilling to offer products to meet their needs.

Source: American Safety Insurance Holdings Ltd., www.amsafety.com