As I was putting the finishing touches on a feature about merger-and-acquisition activity in the property and casualty insurance industry last week, a Bloomberg news item caught my eye.

"Transatlantic May Draw Rival Bid to $3.2 Billion Merger Deal," the headline read, suggesting that alternative suitors for Transatlantic Holdings, Inc.—the reinsurer that agreed to merge with specialty insurer Allied World Assurance Company Holdings AG last Sunday— would put the kibosh on the deal.

Honestly, when I first heard the deal announcement, I was surprised by the proposed pairing. Actually, it was more angst than surprise. Executives of the merger partners were touting the deal as a "specialty lines merger"—the subject of my report in this week's print issue. Yet despite the specialty bent of both firms, the deal was not in keeping with the overriding trend I had reported in my feature.

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