NO MORE IPO

Reliance Surety Group has asked Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulators to withdraw its proposal for an initial public offering. The back-tracking is a result of the parent company’s recent deal with Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. to sell off its surety and fidelity business. Reliance Group Holdings made the agreement with Travelers in late February for approximately $580 million. Reliance Surety had filed its IPO plans with the SEC in late October 1999, and had planned to raise as much as $100 million.