Business Moves

Citi, BISYS

Citi completed its previously announced acquisition of The BISYS Group Inc. for approximately $1.44 billion in an all-cash transaction.

In the transaction BISYS shareholders will receive merger consideration of $11.85 per share, and a special dividend of $0.15 per share in cash.

Immediately thereafter, Citi completed its sale of the Retirement and Insurance Services Divisions of BISYS to affiliates of J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC making the net cost of the transaction to Citi about $800 million

Comegys, Florida Contractor Insurance

Comegys Insurance Corner and Florida Contractor Insurance have agreed to a Sept. 1 merger. Florida Contractor Insurance will sell its Brandon, Fla., office building and employees of both firms will combine all operations in Comegys’ office at Bayfront Towers in St Petersburg, Fla.

Following the merger, Florida Contractor Insurance will be a division of Comegys Insurance Corner.

Mark Sierra established Florida Contractor Insurance in 2000 as Choices Insurance & Financial Services. FCI specializes in the construction industry.

Mark Berset is the CEO of Comegys Insurance, which was founded in 1939. Comegys will start a new Construction Insurance Division to be led by Sierra and the employees from FCI.

NSM, Target Insurance Group

National insurance broker NSM Insurance Group of Conshohocken, Pa., acquired Brandon, Fla.-based Target Insurance Group, program administrator of the Express Hotel Motel Program.

“The Express Hotel Motel Program nicely complements our Coastal CHAMP (Coastal Condo, Hotel and Motel Program). We continue to aggressively seek new acquisition opportunities in the southeast and southwest states,” commented Geof McKernan, NSM chief executive officer. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Shand Morahan, Cambridge Alliance

Shand Morahan & Co. Inc., a Markel Corp., has acquired Cambridge Alliance, a Burlington, Vt., managing general agency that specializes in errors and omissions insurance for registered investment advisors and financial planners.

Mike Rozenberg, Shand Morahan president and chief operating officer, said the move is intended to complement his firm’s established focus on professional liability and expand its offering in financial services.

Cambridge Alliance will place business with the Markel’s Evanston Insurance Co. in all states except Illinois and New Hampshire, where Essex Insurance Co. will be used.

Hilb Rogal & Hobbs, Brown/Raynor

Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. of Richmond, Va., has acquired the property/casualty insurance agency Brown/Raynor Corp. of Colorado. Terms of the transaction, which closed on July 31, 2007, were not disclosed.

Founded in 1985 by George “Hank” Brown and Walt Raynor, Colorado-based Brown/Raynor reported $4.5 million in revenue in 2006. Brown/Raynor specializes in coverage for home builders.

GAINSCO, Montpelier Re

Dallas-based GAINSCO Inc. and its subsidiary MGA Insurance Co. Inc. have agreed to sell their affiliate General Agents Insurance Co. of America Inc. to Montpelier Re U.S. Holdings Ltd. for $4.75 million.

The company said it expects to record a gain on sale of $4.5 million, subject to possible adjustments to the purchase price. The net proceeds are expected to be contributed to policyholders’ surplus of MGA.

In February 2002, the company announced it would stop writing new commercial lines insurance business, the majority of which had been written as excess and surplus lines by General Agents. This book of business has been in runoff since that time. General Agents, which is licensed in Oklahoma, has preserved its status as an approved or qualified excess and surplus lines insurer in 37 jurisdictions.

Upon closing, all direct obligations of General Agents will be assumed 100 percent by MGA, and MGA will also indemnify General Agents against other liabilities existing prior to closing. MGA, which will manage the continued disposition of the runoff business, and the company will guarantee the obligations of MGA to General Agents.

The sale is subject to regulatory approvals in Oklahoma and Texas and other customary conditions. It is expected to close during the fourth quarter.

The company said its ongoing nonstandard personal automobile business continues to be written through MGA.

GAINSCO Inc. is a Dallas, Texas-based holding company. The company’s nonstandard personal automobile insurance products are distributed through independent retail agents in Florida and South Carolina, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada and through an independent managing general agency in California. Its insurance company subsidiary is MGA Insurance Co. Inc.

Brown & Brown Inc, Weilage

A subsidiary of Florida-based Brown & Brown Inc., acquired the assets of Weilage Benefit Specialists Inc., of Louisville, Ky., according to Brown & Brown Regional Executive Vice President J. Scott Penny.

Weilage Benefit Specialists, with annualized revenues of approximately $1.1 million, has been operating in Kentucky and surrounding states for 20 years with focus on group employee benefits products.

SPARTA Insurance

SPARTA Insurance Holdings Inc. reports that it has closed its contractual arrangements for funding in the amount of $279.1 million of private equity capital from a consortium of investors led by Corsair Capital, and including Goldman Sachs, York Capital Management, Primus Capital Funds and KBW Capital Partners.

SPARTA, which is an acronym for Specialty Program and Risk Transfer Alternatives, intends to underwrite property and casualty insurance for the specialty and alternative risk program marketplace. SPARTA is located in Hartford, Conn.

“We’re very pleased to have completed these transactions with an extremely knowledgeable and high caliber group of investors” said George L. Estes III, SPARTA chairman and CEO. In addition to Estes, SPARTA’s founding officers include Kevin G. Costello, president and chief operating officer, and Dawne E. Ware, chief financial officer.

Hub International, The Rigg Group

Hub International Ltd. has agreed to acquire The Rigg Group Inc., one of the largest Texas-based insurance brokers.

The acquisition includes The Rigg Group’s subsidiaries Wm. Rigg Co., a retail insurance brokerage; Rigg Insurance Managers Inc., known as RISC Inc., a wholesale insurance brokerage; and Rigg Life Agency Inc., which does business as Rigg Benefits & Financial Services, a life and benefits brokerage.

Rigg will become a new regional platform doing business as Hub International Rigg (HUB Rigg) with offices located in Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. Rigg employs approximately 235 people.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Topics Florida Texas