M&A

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  M&A Opportunities Ahead

  By Tim Cunningham, Dan Menzer  |  May 1, 2013

  Agency and brokerage mergers & acquisitions have been on a steady upward climb since 2000, except for a blip in 2009 and 2010 due to the collapse of the economy. Those 2 down years were followed by a near blockbuster year in 2011, and the most active year since 2000...

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  7 Ways an M&A Advisor Simplifies the Process

  By Tim Cunningham, Dan Menzer  |  April 17, 2013

  Yes, you can go it alone. But there’s a reason why successful sellers in all industries rely on advisors to guide them through the process.

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  Thinking of an M&A? Answer These 2 Questions First

  By Rick Dennen  |  December 11, 2012

  Overlooking or minimizing hidden vulnerabilities can be a costly mistake.

• Medical Malpractice’s Pair of Pain Points

  By Bonnie Cavanaugh  |  July 23, 2012

  Medical Malpractice insurers are struggling against a dwindling client base, a soft market, burgeoning jury awards and new federal health-care regulations as they try to retain current business and attract new clients.

• Where Are PE Buyers?

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  August 5, 2011

  Private-equity firms are still interested in acquiring specialty wholesalers and managing general underwriters, but they are up against some aggressive competitors offering higher deal prices—like 6- to 8-times EBITDA, consultants say.

• Transatlantic Contest Does Not Signal Casualty-Market Change: Validus CEO

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  August 4, 2011

  In spite of the fact that two Bermuda players are engaged in a heated battle over a global-casualty reinsurer, the intensity of the contest in no way suggests that the casualty market is hardening, according to one of the potential acquirers.

• Environmental Carriers Look To Grow With New, Industry-Specific Coverages

  By Chad Hemenway, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  July 29, 2011

  To compete in a marketplace flooded with competition, environmental insurance carriers to better stand out from the pack are developing new products—built on a growing familiarity with and sophisticated grasp of the unique coverage requirements of specific industry classes.

• Let’s Play Pin The Buyer On The Reinsurer

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 30, 2011

  As I was finishing a feature about merger-and-acquisition activity in the insurance industry last month, a Bloomberg news item caught my eye.

• U.S. Reinsurance Pricing Changes Driven By Revised Cat Model

  By Mark E. Ruquet, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 30, 2011

  The soft market remains firmly entrenched on the casualty side of the reinsurance business. But the property and catastrophe marketplace is a much different—and more unsettled—story.

• Mega Merger Creates Potent Combination

  June 30, 2011

  In mid-June Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings AG and Transatlantic Holdings Inc. announced a $3.2 billion merger deal, creating a global specialty insurer and reinsurer operating in 18 countries and on six continents.

• Specialty Lines Spice Up M&A Deals

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 17, 2011

  An overriding theme of the latest wave of mergers and acquisitions in the insurance industry: strategic buys of specialty-flavored books is specialization.

• P&C Profile: Fortegra Builds Multifaceted Service Group With Wholesaler At Core

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 17, 2011

  The CEO of Fortegra Financial believes he has a distinct edge as he competes to acquire property and casualty wholesale brokerages and regional specialty agencies to add to his firm’s suite of insurance-service operations: Being a New York Stock Exchange-listed public company.

• Picky HIIG Seeks Unadvertised Specials

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 17, 2011

  If you own an underwriting agency with a very specialized, quality book of business—and have no plans to sell it—then Stephen Way, CEO of Houston International Insurance Group, may want to talk about making a deal.

• Thinking Outside The Box Sets Rebranded Crum & Forster Specialty Ops Apart

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  June 17, 2011

  For the CEO of Crum & Forster, Doug Libby, who voluntarily describes himself as “a contrarian,” there is little not to like about the $294 million deal, closed in February, that adds First Mercury Financial Corp. to his group’s specialty-insurance operations.

• Trilateral Endorsement Bridges D&O Tail-Coverage Gaps For M&A Deals

  By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 20, 2011

  When Southwest Airlines closed its $1 billion-plus deal to buy AirTran two weeks ago, it did so knowing that language of a tail-coverage endorsement it bought for AirTran’s directors and officers would synch up with a worrisome provision of the merger indemnification agreement.

• Trilateral Endorsement Bridges D&O Tail-Coverage Gaps For M&A Deals

  By Susanne Sclafane  |  May 13, 2011

  The details of the fine print of a merger agreement—or a D&O liability insurance policy—can be daunting. But when Southwest Airlines closed its $1 billion-plus deal to buy AirTran two weeks ago, it did so knowing that language of a tail-coverage endorsement it bought for AirTran’s directors and officers would...