Argo Group’s Trident Buys New England’s Massamont Agency

Trident Insurance Services, a unit of specialty insurer Argo Group International Holdings Ltd., reports it has acquired Massachusetts-based Massamont Insurance Agency, Inc., which specializes in insurance programs for public entities.

This combination immediately expands Argonaut’s public entity footprint into New England. The combination nearly doubles its employee count to 162 and will boost gross written premium by 65 percent, Trident officials said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hilbert “Van” Schenck II will assume the role of president of Trident while continuing his leadership of Massamont.

The transaction is the evolution of a managing general agency (MGA) partnership established last year. The new combined organization will do business under the Trident and Massamont names and will have operations in San Antonio, Boston, Greenfield (Mass.) and Chicago that will maximize its capacity to write public entity risks across the country.

Michael Arledge, president of Argonaut Select Markets, the Argo Group business segment that includes Trident and Massamont, said the deal makes his firm the second largest writer of small-to- medium-size public entities in the U.S.

In addition to adding to Trident’s public entoty business, the Massamont book also includes additional automobile specialty programs.

Argo Group is the combined international holding company resulting from the Aug. 7, 2007 merger of Argonaut Group, Inc. and PXRE Group, Ltd.

Source: Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd.
www.argolimited.com

Massamont Insurance Agency, Inc.
http://www.massamontinsurance.com/index.htm

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions