Business Moves

Arthur J. Gallagher, Winn & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Winn & Company Insurance Brokers Inc. in Hollister, Calif. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 1910, Winn & Company is a retail insurance broker offering risk management, commercial property/casualty, benefits and personal insurance services. The agency also specializes in insurance programs for the construction, agricultural and food processing industries.

Donald Winn and his associates will continue to operate from their current location under the direction of James McFarlane, West Coast Regional Manager of Gallagher’s retail property/casualty brokerage operations.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm, is headquartered in Itasca, Ill.

USI Holdings, RA Bench

USI Holdings Corp. has closed the acquisition of the insurance and financial services business of RA Bench, a Seattle-based wealth management, executive and group employee benefit insurance brokerage firm.

The acquired RAB business, which will be integrated into USI’s existing Seattle office, is expected to contribute approximately $3 million in revenues to USI on an annual basis. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ISU Insure It All, ISU Network

ISU Insure It All of Ammon, Idaho, has joined ISU International in the western region.

ISU International is a national network of more than 90 independent agencies with offices coast-to-coast and combined annual premiums in excess of $1 billion.

The Hartford

The Hartford said it would conduct a public offering of equity and debt securities as part of a plan to repay the $3.4 billion it took through the Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program, also known as the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP).

“We appreciate the critical role the government and the American taxpayers have played in stabilizing the financial markets, said Liam E. McGee, president and CEO, noting the company is repurchasing the Treasury’s investment in less than 10 months.

The offerings will consist of $1.45 billion of common stock and $500 million of mandatory convertible preferred stock. The debt offering related to the repurchase of the government’s preferred stock will consist of $425 million of senior notes. The company will pre-fund the repurchase of its senior debt maturing in 2010 and 2011 by issuing an additional $675 million of senior notes.

“The Hartford always viewed this investment as temporary capital and intended to return it as soon as it was prudent,” McGee said.

Topics A.J. Gallagher