SCOR Sells Fulcrum to Argonaut

April 15, 2002

Paris-based SCOR Group announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its Fulcrum surplus lines business unit, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, to the Argonaut Group, Inc. of San Antonio, Texas. Neither the price nor the specific terms were disclosed.

The announcement explained that SCOR had acquired Fulcrum as part of its purchase of Sorema in July of 2001. It recorded gross written premiums for 2001 of $45.6 million and had capital and surplus as of December 31, 2001 of $24.6 million.

The move is in line with SCOR’s efforts to concentrate on its core reinsurance business in the wake of losses suffered last year, mainly as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks and the explosion of the AZF chemical plant in Toulouse.

Jérôme Faure, President & CEO of SCOR US, stated that, “While we valued highly the Fulcrum staff of professionals, the surplus lines operations simply did not fit with our core reinsurance business.”

“This transaction will free up capital for SCOR’s reinsurance operations in the US market, allowing it to further take advantage of the strong market recovery” said the announcement.

The deal’s closing is subject to the requisite regulatory approvals, but SCOR’s announcement indicated that it would “take place as soon as possible.”|”scor, sells, fulcrum, argonaut

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