Business Moves

Lighthouse Underwriters, Cooley and Darling

Cooley and Darling Insurance Agency Inc., a new retail agency based in Haymarket, Va., has acquired the retail book of non-profit business from Lighthouse Underwriters LLC, a member company of U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc.

Cooley and Darling Insurance Agency Inc. was established by two former Lighthouse employees, Andy Cooley and Jeff Darling. Before forming Cooling and Darling Insurance Agency, Cooley managed the non-profit book and Darling managed the Take1 Program. They will assume all renewal rights for the entire retail non-profit book, according to Lighthouse Underwriters.

“While we have divested our interest in our retail non-profit book of business we will continue to offer the non-profit coverage on a wholesale basis,” said Art Seifert, CEO of Lighthouse Underwriters.

“We are still working in non-profit through our retail base, but will no longer offer our direct consumer book,” April Moser, spokesperson for U.S. Risk, told Insurance Journal. “That was the only book out of our entire organizational structure that we had a direct relationship with the consumer so it didn’t fit with our business model.”

With the departure of Darling, Lighthouse Underwriters has appointed Scott Carroll as the new program manager for Take1. Carroll is branch manager of the U.S. Risk office in Irvine, Calif., and will assume the additional duties of program manager for the Lighthouse Take1 program.

Casualty & Surety, JC Shannon Insurance

Birmingham, Ala.-based property and casualty brokerage firm, Casualty & Surety Inc., acquired JC Shannon Insurance Services Inc., of Fresno, Calif.

JC Shannon specializes in truck physical damage and cargo coverage, and will enhance CSI’s dealings in the trucking industry. The acquisition will also present an opportunity to expand n the western United States, according to Rob Roberts, CSI chief operating officer.

Employers Holdings, AmCOMP

Employers Holdings, Inc. of Reno, Nev., has agreed to acquire AmCOMP Inc. for approximately $230 million, including the assumption of $37 million in debt. The acquisition will expand Employers’ workers’ compensation insurance operations to a total of 26 states.

Douglas D. Dirks, president and chief executive officer of Employers Holdings, Inc., said the addition of AmCOMP’s 900 agencies would “significantly” accelerate his company’s growth in expansion states as well as open up new markets for its small business workers’ compensation line. Employers has been focused in the western states while AmCOMP has been in the Southeast and Midwest.

Hanover Insurance, Verlan

Worcester, Mass.-based The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has agreed to acquire Verlan Holdings, Inc., a Silver Spring, Maryland-based holding company that provides insurance to manufacturers and distributors of chemical-related products.

Verlan’s primary business, Verlan Fire Insurance Co. offers property coverage to small and medium-sized companies that manufacture, store, transport and use chemicals such as paints and solvents. Verlan Fire is licensed to do business in 27 states.

A second Verlan Holdings subsidiary, Coatings Industry Services, is a program manager and wholesale agency that specializes in chemical and environmental exposures.

The Verlan announcement follows The Hanover’s completed acquisition of law firm professional liability writer Professionals Direct, Inc. in September.

Genstar Capital, Confie Seguros

San Francisco-based Genstar Capital LLC, a middle market private equity firm, has partnered with insurance industry executives and Westline Corp. to establish Confie Seguros, a company formed to consolidate insurance brokerages that focus on the Hispanic consumer.

In the next three years, Genstar and the Confie Seguros management team, led by insurance brokerage CEO John Addeo, look to build a national distribution company with revenues exceeding $300 million, focusing on California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Nevada. Funding for future acquisitions will be provided by Genstar and management of $75 million and a bank facility with expected capacity in excess of $200 million.

Confie Seguros has completed its first investment in Westline, an insurance brokerage firm serving California.

Addeo has led two consolidations. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Alliant Resources Group. Prior to that, he was president of USI Insurance Services.

Topics USA