SeaBright Subsidiary Acquires Part Of Black/White

SeaBright Insurance Holdings is an insurance holding company whose wholly owned subsidiary, SeaBright Insurance Company, operates as a specialty underwriter of multijurisdictional workers' compensation insurance.

The insurance company writes specialty workers' comp insurance, such as policies for maritime and construction industry employers, which are distributed through selected independent insurance brokers and through its in-house wholesale broker affiliate, PointSure.

PointSure also distributes specialty liability insurance products.

The acquired Black/White entities provide business owner's policies, general and auto liability insurance to small commercial clients, general liability programs for middle-market clients, and coverage for select social services organizations, generating about $15 million in annual premiums and approximately $1.4 million annually in fees and commissions.

SeaBright reported $267 million of net written premiums in 2007.

Black/White & Associates, located in Texas, and Black/White Rockridge Insurance Services Inc., a California company, will function in support of the Nevada operation, SeaBright said.

According to Euclid Black, the founder of Black/White, those two units were dormant operations which continue to hold licenses.

Mr. Black also noted that Black/White Group has retained its Kentucky operation which is staffed by family members.

"We've basically sold our operations west of the Mississippi, but kept operations east of the Mississippi, he said.

Mr. Black will remain involved as an advisor to PointSure, Seabright said.

Craig Pankow, president of PointSure Insurance Services Inc., said the acquisition provides "a stronger platform for…ongoing national expansion efforts."

Mr. Black said his firm anticipates that agents and customers of the sold operations "will experience 'business as usual' in the near term, and will soon enjoy the additional markets and enhanced service capabilities PointSure brings to the table."

In a recent interview, Mr. Black, the current president of the American Association of Managing General Agents, described a history of mergers and acquisitions that helped build a strong specialty MGA platform in the late 1990s and early 2000s as well as a move into standard lines in recent years.

During the present soft market, however, he said he found himself at a different stage of life, taking stock and preparing for his eventual retirement through divestures rather than acquisitions. But he is not retiring yet, he told National Underwriter earlier today, noting that he will continue to be involved with unsold operations and management of the holding company.

"We intend to keep going for the next 30 years," Mr. Black told NU in May, referring to the Louisville, Ky. Operation.

Last year, Black/White sold an Oakland, Calif.-based program underwriting division that specialized in the nonprofit area to Markel Corp. in an effort to raise capital and to pay off co-founder Paul White, who retired from the firm.

In addition to selling the nonprofit social services unit to Markel, Black/White later sold a New Jersey accountants' errors and omissions insurance business back to its management and closed the Texas and Illinois branches.