W.R. Berkley Buying Renewal Rights From Gulf

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, July 1, 4:20 p.m. EDT? W.R. Berkley Corp., in an effort to expand its specialty lines, has agreed to purchase a large chunk of renewal rights from a St. Paul Travelers unit and said it is setting up a new specialty subsidiary to underwrite the renewal and similar business.[@@]

The Greenwich, Conn.-based insurer announced that it is purchasing renewal rights to certain excess and surplus-lines casualty business representing some $110 million of annual in-force premiums from New York-based Gulf Insurance Company. W.R. Berkley noted, however, that it will not assume any past loss reserves or other liabilities as part of its transaction with the St. Paul unit.

"This decision to transfer the renewal rights came about as part of our ongoing evaluation of our business," said Marlene Ibsen, a St. Paul Travelers spokesperson.

Ms. Ibsen said the company is "continuing with the process of integrating the Gulf business within The St. Paul Travelers as well," said Ms. Ibsen, whose Hartford, Conn.-based Travelers Property Casualty and its Gulf Insurance unit completed its merger with The St. Paul Companies earlier this year.

W. R. Berkley chairman and chief executive William Berkley said, "The purchase of renewal rights to this specific book of business provides us with a great opportunity to increase and expand our underwriting of specialty lines."

W. R. Berkley also said that its new specialty unit, called Berkley Specialty Underwriting Managers LLC, will be run by Steven Zeitman, who most recently worked as Gulf's executive vice president of specialty casualty and environmental risks.

The new unit, headquartered in Atlanta, will underwrite the renewal and other similar businesses. "We are excited to have Steve Zeitman join us to lead this portion of our operations," Mr. Berkley commented. "We are confident that our expertise and resources in this market will benefit the agents and clients of this business."

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W.R. Berkley Buying Renewal Rights From Gulf

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