Business Moves

W.R. Berkley, American Mining Insurer

Connecticut-based W.R. Berkley Corp. has closed on the acquisition of CGH Insurance Group, the owner of American Mining Insurance Co. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

American Mining, based in Birmingham, Ala., has specialized in providing insurance protection to the mining industry since 1989.

As earlier indicated, Chandler F. Cox Jr. will remain as American Mining’s president and CEO, and Dominick Giovannelli will continue as its executive vice president and chief financial officer.

W.R. Berkley Corp. is an insurance holding company that operates in five segments of the property/casualty insurance business: specialty insurance, regional property/casualty insurance, alternative markets, reinsurance, and international.

BrickStreet Mutual

West Virginia’s private workers’ compensation insurance carrier, BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co., is moving to a new corporate headquarters in downtown Charleston.

BrickStreet began the process of consolidating 460 employees from three Kanawha Valley locations into the new location at 400 Quarrier St. on Oct. 5.

BrickStreet paid $9 million for the former Montgomery Ward and Bob Evans Restaurant property in December 2006.

Cambridge Integrated Services Group

A company that manages old workers’ compensation claims for West Virginia is laying off 62 employees after it lost the contract to another company.

Cambridge Integrated Services Group Inc. said it will close its Charleston facility by Nov. 30. The layoffs are expected to be permanent.

The affected employees transferred from BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. last year when Brickstreet subcontracted the old claims to Cambridge.

Cambridge bid to keep the contract but the state Insurance Commission awarded the job to Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. in August.

Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline says some Cambridge employees have applied for jobs with Sedgwick.

Swiss Re, PRO Insurance

Insurance run-off specialist PRO Insurance Solutions Limited has formed a new U.S. affiliate, PRO Insurance Solutions, Inc., or PRO US.

The company is a member of the Swiss Re Group and a subsidiary of Swiss Re America Holding Corp.

PRO US will operate out of New York and Boston offering run-off and discontinued management, technical audit, commutation, asset recovery and reinsurance debt purchase services.

Kathy Barker joins PRO as president. Formerly with The Hartford, she has experience in acceleration of closures via commutation, development of collection strategies to resolve disputes and accelerate retrocession recoveries, including management of insolvent reinsurance recoveries.

Steve Ryland, executive director of PRO, said the expansion is supported by the level of new activity as well as increases in the number of U.S.-based clients and international clients with considerable U.S. exposures.

Starr International, Republic Insurance

Starr International Co. Inc. announced its U.S. subsidiary, Starr International USA Inc., acquired Republic Insurance Co. from Columbia Insurance Co., a member of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Group.

Republic Insurance Co., a property/casualty insurer, is located in Dallas.

Republic Insurance Co. is not affiliated with The Republic Group of Companies, a regional property/casualty insurance organization that is also based in Dallas.

The name of the Texas property/casualty insurer will be changed to Starr Indemnity & Liability Co.

Starr Indemnity & Liability Co. will offer customized property/casualty insurance products and accompanying loss control, claims management, administrative and reinsurance services.

Starr International Co. Inc is a private investment holding company incorporated in Panama in 1943, and holds approximately $20 billion in assets world wide.

Starr is run by Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, former CEO of American International Group who now also heads C.V. Starr & Co.

Shore Bancshares, TSGIA, Jack Martin

Shore Bancshares Inc., parent company of three independent community banks and two retail insurance agencies serving the Delmarva peninsula, has closed two new acquisitions including a retail agency specializing in marine insurance and a wholesale insurance agency offering a variety of specialty products for independent insurance agencies throughout the mid-Atlantic region.

One of the acquisitions is TSGIA Inc. & Subsidiaries, of Salisbury, Md, which has been a regional wholesale insurance operation for 30 years and generates $6.5 million in annual gross revenue.

The other is Jack Martin & Associates Inc., of Annapolis, a family-owned agency that was founded in the 1920s and specialized in marine insurance in the mid-Atlantic region. It produces approximately $2 million in annual revenue.

According to Terry M. Mead, CEO of the existing Shore Bancshares retail insurance agency subsidiaries — The Avon Dixon Agency LLC and Elliott Wilson Insurance LLC — both acquisitions are expected to be immediately accretive to earnings.

Mead said the Annapolis-based acquisition will more than double the size of the marine-related book of business for Shore Bancshares, while the new wholesale operation will create “significant growth opportunities” in a much wider geographic area.

The principals and staff of both acquired firms will be retained. Edward A. Dickerson, CEO of TSGIA, will also serve as CEO of a newly-formed wholesale insurance subsidiary of Shore Bancshares, which will be managed separately from the company’s group of retail insurance subsidiaries under Mead.

Shore Bancshares Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Easton, Md. It is the parent company of three banks, The Talbot Bank of Easton, Maryland, The Centreville National Bank of Maryland, and The Felton Bank; two insurance producer firms, The Avon-Dixon Agency LLC and Elliott Wilson Insurance LLC; an insurance premium finance company, Mubell Finance LLC; a mortgage company, Wye Mortgage Group and a wealth management and investment advisory company, Wye Trust Services.

Brown & Brown, J.P. Morgan Insurance

Brown & Brown Inc. has purchased the property and casualty insurance brokerage business of J.P. Morgan Insurance Agency Inc., located in Newark, Del.

The acquired business, with annualized revenues of approximately $4 million, consists primarily of personal lines property and casualty business.

The agency specializes in high value coverage for residential and specialized, unique property such as works of art, collectibles and jewelry.

The management and staff of the acquired business will continue to operate in Newark, Del., under the name Brown & Brown Private Client Group.

Brown & Brown, Professional Risk Managers

Florida-based Brown & Brown Inc. has acquired the assets of Professional Risk Managers Inc. and PRM Group LLC (collectively the PRM Group). The PRM Group, with revenues of $4.5 million, sells property/casualty, surety, and group benefits in the New York City metropolitan area. The PRM Group will continue operating out of its current Purchase, N.Y., location.