M&A

Two of the largest wholesale insurance brokers in the US are combining as market leader Amwins has agreed to acquire Partners Specialty Group, the companies said today.

PartnerRe completed its $286mn purchase of North American life reinsurer Aurigen on Friday.

Sompo Holdings has acquired Endurance Specialty for $6.3bn which will also give it ownership of ILS investment manager Blue Capital Management.

Lloyd's managing agent Argenta has been acquired by Hannover Re after a lengthy negotiation, the companies announced today.

A KKR affiliate and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) have agreed to buy US broker USI Insurance from Onex Corporation in a deal valuing the company at $4.3bn.

US property cat specialist Icat and its parent Paraline Group have appointed Evercore to advise on strategic options that could include an eventual sale, sister publication The Insurance Insider reported.

The owners of legacy specialist Catalina - Apollo and two Canadian pension fund investors - have retained banking advisors that could lead to a partial or full sale of the firm.

The parent company of Louisiana and Texas homeowners' insurer Maison Insurance has received a licence to operate in Florida

Avatar Partners is to acquire Elements Property Insurance Holdings and its subsidiaries in a deal that pulls together two of Florida's smaller homeowners' carriers

QBE said it was not in discussions with Allianz or any other potential buyer after German media reported that the Munich group had made an informal bid

The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers) will take a 21 percent stake in Allied World after agreeing to put $1bn towards Fairfax Financial's acquisition of the insurer

Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo has confirmed it is considering making a bid for Generali as part of its growth plans in the savings, banking and insurance industries.