Business Moves

Brown & Brown, Conner Strong

Florida- based Brown & Brown Inc. said it has agreed to acquire the small business insurance unit of Conner Strong Companies, Inc., which is headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The small business insurance unit has annualized revenues of approximately $9.3 million from commercial insurance and employee benefits. The agency has locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The deal is expected to close in January of 2009.

As part of the transaction, Joseph P. Morrissey, Jr., who is executive vice president, Select Commercial for Conner Strong, will join Brown & Brown as leader of the acquired commercial lines operations. Additionally, Brown & Brown will have two new mid-Atlantic locations as a result of the transaction.

Wright Risk Management, Aquiline Capital Partners

Wright Risk Management LLC, a risk financing and insurance management company, and Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, a New York-based private equity firm, have formed WRM America Holdings, a specialty lines property and casualty insurance holding company.

The company will initially serve the insurance needs of the education market and plans to grow into the not-for-profit and municipal markets nationally. Since WRM currently manages the operations of the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal (NYSIR), and the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal (NYMIR), WRM America will not underwrite public entities in New York State.

WRM America, headquartered in Uniondale, N.Y., will provide education insurance programs to private and public K-12 schools, colleges and universities. WRM America Indemnity, the underwriting subsidiary of the company, has received a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) from A.M. Best.

Wright Risk Management has become a wholly owned subsidiary of WRM America and will provide WRM America and its other subsidiaries with underwriting, marketing, administrative, accounting, information technology, risk management, and claims management infrastructure, as well as extending on a national scale the model Wright Risk Management has built in New York State.

SMH Capital, Sanders Morris Harris Group’s investment banking group, served as sole placement agent and financial advisor for the formation, structuring and initial funding of WRM America Holdings.

William J. Fishlinger founded Wright Risk Management in 1978 and will serve as chairman and CEO of WRM America. Gerard P. Elicks, president of Wright Risk Management since 2000, will continue in that role.

Steven Sims, a 30-year veteran of the insurance industry, will serve as president of WRM America Indemnity.

Arthur J. Gallagher, The HR Group

International insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported it has acquired The HR Group LLC in Brentwood, Tennessee. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The HR Group offers employee benefits products and services along with human resource management consulting and outsourced benefits administration services.

Karen Saul and her associates will continue to operate in their current location under the direction of William Ziebell, North Central regional executive vice president of Gallagher’s employee benefit consulting and brokerage operations.

NationAir, Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association

NationAir Aviation Insurance recently announced that it has been named the preferred or the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA).

Through the preferred broker relationship, NationAir will support continued development of Cirrus safety programs, including Critical Decision Making (CDM) and the Cirrus Pilot Proficiency Program (CPPP), along with the development of new programs.

The new relationship will also give NationAir customers access to exclusive premium discounts by completing COPA training programs. NationAir clients will receive up to 10 perfect off premiums for completion of the Cirrus Pilot Proficiency Program, or up to 5 percent off for completion of the Critical Decision Making program.

Additional discounts will be offered for training completed at other COPA-recognized recurrent training facilities. Clients may not combine the discounts.

Ebix, ConfirmNet

Atlanta-based insurance software developer Ebix, Inc. has agreed to acquire San Diego based ConfirmNet Corp. effective Nov. 1, 2008.

ConfirmNet offers software issuing and tracking certificates of insurance.

The deal will involve cash payments to ConfirmNet shareholders in the range of $10 to $11 million, varying based upon the fourth quarter revenue performance of ConfirmNet.

State Auto, Rockhill Insurance Group Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. has agreed to acquire Rockhill Insurance Group of Kansas City, Mo. Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2009.

Rockhill Insurance Group, which has its corporation based in Delaware, but companies in Kansas,

In all, Rockhill writes approximately $135 million in specialty property and casualty direct written premium through four insurance company subsidiaries: Rockhill Insurance Co., Plaza Insurance Co., American Compensation Insurance Co., and Bloomington Compensation Insurance Co.

Key business segments include commercial property, general liability for residential construction, commercial umbrella and surety; RTW, a monoline workers’ compensation company; and Absentia, a third party administrator providing workers’ compensation claim and loss control services. Rockhill writes business on a non-admitted basis in 49 states and the District of Columbia, and is licensed on an admitted basis in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

State Auto intends to retain Rockhill’s management and associates, operating the company as a stand alone subsidiary of State Automobile Mutual. State Automobile Mutual does not plan to pool Rockhill’s operations with those of State Auto’s for the foreseeable future.

The State Auto Insurance Companies, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, are engaged primarily in writing personal and business insurance products exclusively through approximately 3,400 independent insurance agencies in 33 states.

Zurich, Russia

Zurich Financial Services Group has completed the acquisition of a remaining 34 percent minority stake in Russia’s OOO NASTA Insurance Co., which was renamed Zurich Retail Insurance Ltd. at the end of 2007.

Zurich said the purchase price was around $205 million, and that all necessary regulatory approvals to close the transaction have been obtained.

Zurich acquired a 66 percent majority stake in NASTA in February 2007 with an agreed path to 100 percent ownership by 2010. Zurich Retail Insurance Ltd. is now the largest foreign controlled general insurer exclusively operating under an international brand in the Russian market.”

Archer Daniels Midland, Agrinational

Archer Daniels Midland Company announced on Nov. 11 that its wholly owned subsidiary, Agrinational Insurance Company, has acquired 50 percent of the shares of Agriserve Inc. (ASI). Agrinational has also acquired an option to purchase the remaining shares of Agriserve at a future date. Agriserve was established in 1982 to provide farmers with affordable crop income protection. Through the partnership, ADM will add Agriserve’s expertise in crop insurance to its portfolio of grain merchandising services.

Agriserve Inc., located in Findlay, Ill., has served as Agrinational’s managing general agent for crop insurance business since 2005.

Agriserve writes multi-peril crop insurance and crop hail insurance in 32 states.

Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland Company employs 27,000 who work at more than 240 processing plants, converting corn, oilseeds, wheat and cocoa into products for food, animal feed, chemical and energy uses.

Tokio Marine, Philadelphia Insurance

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. reported that the Financial Services Agency of Japan has approved its acquisition by Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. Tokio Marine is acquiring all outstanding shares of the insurer for $61.50 per share in cash. Tokio Marine previously received approval Pennsylvania and Florida insurance departments.

The closing of the merger remains subject to other customary closing conditions, but no additional regulatory approvals are required. The parties anticipate that the closing of the merger will occur on December 1, 2008. Philadelphia underwrites commercial property/casualty and professional liability insurance products.

HopFed Bank, TARP

Kentucky’s HopFed Bancorp, Inc., holding company for Heritage Bank and Fall & Fall Insurance, has been preliminarily approved to participate in the U.S. Department of Treasury Capital Purchase Program (TARP). The company has 30 days to make a decision on its participation in the program.

HopFed Bancorp is eligible to receive a Treasury Department investment in the company’s preferred stock of up to $18.4 million.

John E. Peck, the bank’s president and CEO, said the funds would enhance the company’s lending and investment opportunities as well as provide capital to expand into new markets and to fund strategic acquisitions.

HopFed Bancorp, Inc. is a holding company of Heritage Bank headquartered in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The bank has 18 offices in western Kentucky and middle Tennessee as well as Fall & Fall Insurance of Fulton, Kentucky; Heritage Solutions of Murray, Kentucky, Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Dickson, Tennessee, and Pleasant View, Tennessee and Heritage Mortgage Services of Clarksville, Tennessee.

Wells Fargo, Doeren Mayhew

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc., a bank-owned insurance brokerage and a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co., has acquired the assets of Troy, Michigan-based Doeren Mayhew Risk Management LLC.

Doeren Mayhew Risk Management provides insurance and risk management services in the areas of property and casualty, workers’ compensation, professional liability, disability and personal lines.

Principals Thomas Welbourn and Gregory Richmond and their team will transition into the Wells Fargo Insurance Services office in Southfield, Mich. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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