Assurant Solutions Streamlines Domestic Operations, Expects to Take $4M Charge

Assurant Solutions conducted workforce reductions in the U.S. during the fourth quarter as part of its continued efforts to streamline operations, primarily in its domestic credit insurance and extended protection businesses, according to a recent regulatory filing.

Assurant Solutions has U.S. corporate offices in Atlanta, with operations in various other locations. It’s part of Assurant Inc., a New York-headquartered provider of specialty insurance products and related services in North America, Latin America, Europe and select worldwide markets.

Assurant Inc. said in its Dec. 12 regulatory filing that affected employees were notified on or before Dec. 12, 2013. It estimated that related severance and outplacement costs will result in an after-tax charge of approximately $4.0 million to consolidated and segment fourth quarter net income. The company did not provide any additional information as to the number of U.S. employees affected.

Separately, during the fourth quarter, Assurant Solutions initiated a consolidation of its operations and management structure in Europe in connection with its acquisition of Lifestyle Services Group (LSG), a mobile protection and services business based in the United Kingdom. That consolidation is expected to be largely completed by June 2014 and would result in an after-tax charge of approximately $7.3 million for the fourth quarter, the company estimated. The company also expects to incur about $3-5 million after-tax costs related to the integration of LSG over the first three quarters of 2014.

After incurring the estimated charges, all of these actions are expected to generate approximately $20-25 million of annualized pre-tax savings by the fourth quarter of 2014, the company said in its regulatory filing. The company said it expects about half of that amount to be recognized in 2014.

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