Services For Republic Group CEO Bruce Milligan

Services For Republic Group CEO Bruce Milligan

NU Online News Service, Sept. 3, 11:34 a.m. EDT?Funeral services will be held tomorrow for Bruce Robert Milligan, president and chief executive officer at Dallas-based Republic Group of Insurance Companies, who died Saturday. He was 47.

Mr. Milligan's death came a day after the sale of his company to an acquisition group he was part of. The company's new CEO said the cause of death appeared related to a heart ailment, but was unexpected.

A veteran of the insurance industry, he had been with the Republic Group for the past 15 years. He first joined the company as the chief financial officer and was named its chief executive eight years ago.

In addition to his position at the Republic Group, Mr. Milligan was also a member of several boards at the time of his death, including the Alliance of American Insurers, Dallas National Bank, the Children's Education Fund of Dallas, and the Insurance Council of Texas. He also served as president of the Association of Fire and Casualty Companies in Texas and as president of the Independent Lloyds of Texas.

"All of us who had the privilege of working with Bruce Milligan over the past 15 years mourn his unexpected passing and send our deepest condolences to his family," said Martin Cummings, chief financial officer at the Republic Group.

Mr. Milligan's passing came just one day after the formal completion of the company's purchase by an American investor group for $127 million from Winterthur of Zurich, Switzerland.

The Republic Group--a medium-sized provider of property and auto insurance for individuals and commercial insurance for businesses in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma--had been owned by Winterthur since 1982. The insurer wrote gross written premiums worth $465 million last year.

Mr. Milligan was a member of the U.S. buyout group, led by Wand Partners Inc., a New York-based private equity investment group, and was expected to continue his role as Republic's CEO and reestablish the insurer as an independent enterprise.

"Bruce Milligan was very pleased and happy after the deal was completed--he and I had been planing this transaction for months. Republic has been a good company, but he was fond of saying we are going to build a great company within two years," said Bruce Schnitzer, chairman at Wand Partners, who will now serve as Republic's CEO during a transition period.

"He was very young and in good shape, but it appears to be heart-related," Mr. Schnitzer said. "He had had a bit of history of heart issues back in his 30s. But he had a completely clean bill of health just a few months ago. It's one of those things that happen in life when you think things are going well--he's been in good health for years and was on a real high."

"This was a guy who was loved and admired throughout the industry, and especially in the Texas community," Mr. Schnitzer added. "We know our profound sense of loss is shared by many others who knew and loved Bruce."

He is survived by his wife Jan and their sons Joe and Mike The funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Holland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas.