Company executives representing CGU Insurance Group had reason to smile June 1 at the 50th Annual “I” Day in San Diego. Not only were they representing their company, but they were unveiling a new name and a new era – OneBeacon Insurance Group.
Sharon Anderson Moore, regional marketing manager for the company, spoke about the company’s new look as it heads into the 21st Century.
“It [the name change] has added a level of excitement to being here today,” Moore commented. “The change generates discussion and gives us a nice opportunity to present new items. It gives us an opportunity to restate our commitment to independent agents.”
The deal became finalized when CGU’s parent company, London-based CGNU group, sold the CGU U.S. property/casualty operations to Bermuda-based White Mountains Insurance Group. White Mountains bought the company for $2.170 billion, financed by current resources, a seller note amounting to $260 million, $741 million in new equity and a final total of $875 million in debt raised via a banking syndicate coordinated by Lehman Brothers. Finalized May 31, the deal gained approval over the past month by 18 state insurance departments.
Moore notes that many (almost 2,000 to be exact) suggestions for a new company name have been considered since last fall. Massachusetts employees Donna Strange and Frank Schmitt came up with the winning entry. Moore said the final choice resulted from the fact that the company is headquartered in Boston at One Beacon Street, while a company-released press statement adds that the name “symbolizes the essence of the insurance promise – security, pointing the way forward and always being there when you’re needed most.”
OneBeacon Insurance Group functions through insurance companies licensed to do business in all 50 states, selling exclusively via a network of independent agents.
The sale, originally agreed upon last September, was dependent on CGNU’s decision to center on the life and savings business and in those global areas where it had a top-five position.
Topics Mergers & Acquisitions
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Cargo Owners in Baltimore Disaster Face ‘General Average’ Loss Sharing, MSC Says 
AIG Sues Newly Launched Dellwood Insurance and Its Founders 
Harvard Study Again Stirs the Pot on Demotech Ratings of Florida Carriers 
Former MLB Player, 3 Others Charged with Staging Auto Accident in Miami 
