Commerce Completes Purchase of State-Wide; to Enter N.Y. Market

The Commerce Group, Inc. in Webster, Mass. has completed its acquisition of SWICO Enterprises, Ltd., the holding company for Hempstead, New York-based property and casualty insurer State-Wide Insurance Co.

With the completion of the acquisition, Commerce, the largest auto insurance writer in Massachusetts, said it will make immediate entry into the New York personal lines insurance market through State-Wide.

State-Wide primarily writes private passenger automobile insurance in the state of New York. As of year-end 2006, State-Wide reported approximately $38 million in direct written premiums.

Under the terms of the agreement, ACIC Holding Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Commerce which is jointly owned by Commerce and AAA Southern New England, acquired SWICO Enterprises, Ltd., in a transaction valued at $52 million.

“This transaction is a continuation of our ongoing efforts to build a more geographically diverse business,” said Gerald Fels, president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of The Commerce Group, Inc., in December when the acqusition was first announced.

Commerce has said it intends to expand the company’s geographic offerings through additional expansion of its member companies by entering the New Jersey market as soon as practicable.

The Commerce Group, Inc.’s subsidiaries include The Commerce Insurance Co. and Citation Insurance Co. in Massachusetts, Commerce West Insurance Co. in California, and American Commerce Insurance Co. in Ohio.

Through its subsidiaries’ combined insurance activities, the company is ranked as the 19th largest personal automobile insurance group in the country by A.M. Best Company, based on 2005 direct written premium information. The company and its insurance subsidiaries are rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best.

Source: Commerce Group

Topics New York New Markets