M&A

Expansive Floridian insurer Heritage Insurance has agreed to buy Zephyr Insurance Company, a specialty insurer in Hawaii, in an all-cash deal worth around $120mn.

United Insurance Holdings (UPC Insurance) is to buy Long Island-based carrier Interboro Insurance Company for $57mn as the expansive Floridian insurer looks to build its footprint outside the Sunshine State.

Reinsurance M&A could benefit ILS funds as larger carriers will be keen to reduce counterparty credit risk, two fund managers told Trading Risk.

Zurich has withdrawn its offer to buy UK insurer RSA after warning of a significant loss from the Tianjin port explosions and a $200mn operating loss on its general insurance business in the third quarter.

Vario Partners founders Quentin Moore and James McPherson say that Solvency II and insurance M&A will help drive take-up of securitised capital relief products

Japanese insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company (MSI) has agreed terms with Amlin to acquire the London-listed specialty (re)insurer in a cash offer worth £3.47bn ($5.4bn), the company announced today (8 September).

Consolidation in the reinsurance industry is contributing to an uptick in demand for retro cover in 2015, although the impact is expected to be short-lived.

Traditional reinsurers are adapting to become "gatekeepers" of insurance risk as they share more of their portfolios with alternative capital, AM Best said in its pre-Monte Carlo report on the sector

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has warned that consolidation is unlikely to be a panacea for competitive conditions in the reinsurance market.

Endurance now owns a 25 percent share of the Blue Capital Global Reinsurance Fund - worth $50mn - after the completion of its takeover of Montpelier Re.

Italian investment firm Exor and PartnerRe have agreed on a $6.9bn sale of the reinsurer, as the carrier terminated its agreement to merge with Axis Capital.

European insurance powerhouse Zurich is considering a bid for its smaller rival RSA, the Swiss carrier revealed this morning (28 July).