Archive for: 2016

Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings, a property and casualty re/insurer, is acquiring Allied World Assurance Company Holdings for $4.9 billion in cash and stock as the two companies have entered into a merger agreement approved by their boards. The offer price represents a premium of 18 percent to the closing...

Liberty Mutual Insurance has agreed to acquire specialty lines insurer Ironshore Inc. from China’s Fosun International Limited. Liberty Mutual will acquire a 100 percent ownership interest in Ironshore. According to the announcement, the purchase price will equate to 1.45x Ironshore’s actual tangible book value as of year-end 2016, and...

After 2 successive years of growth, rally in overall premiums is expected to continue Things are looking bright for the surety bond industry. After two successive years of growth, the rally in overall premiums is expected to continue next year despite an expected rise in loss activity. Industry experts...

Strong construction growth drives bonding demand, but also a labor shortage, giving rise to increasing claims The fortunes of the surety sector are, naturally, directly linked to those of the construction industry. After reaching a high mark of more than $5.5 billion in premium in 2008, that number decreased...

The outlook for surety in Canada is healthy, but a number of developments are introducing increased risk that need to be taken into account and properly managed, speakers suggested during the Toronto Risk and Insurance Education Forum last week in downtown Toronto. Likely, “80% or so of the bonds...

Many owners, particularly large corporations or public entities, require contractors to provide a labour and material payment bond to ensure that sub-trades are paid and (hopefully) avoid protracted payment disputes. A typical labour and material bond creates a tri-partite relationship among the principal (the contractor who is being bonded),...

The outstanding results of the surety industry over the last 10 years are beginning to make some buyers question the value of surety bonds. However, there are dynamics going on in the construction industry and commercial markets that indicate the need is greater than ever for their use. For...

Arch Coal will use traditional insurance to guarantee that nearly $400 million in cleanup work eventually happens at its Wyoming mines, according to a restructuring plan approved Tuesday by a federal bankruptcy judge. The plan moves the coal giant away from self-bonding, a contentious practice that allows companies to...

Business insurance provider Federated Mutual Insurance Company has reached an agreement to acquire Granite Re, an Oklahoma-based provider of surety bonds for small to medium-sized contractors. According to Federated Insurance, the acquisition better positions Federated Insurance to partner with commercial contractors for their surety and bonding needs. Jeff Fetters,...

A number of professionals in the financial field across the U.S. undergo their required licensing procedure via the National Multistate Licensing System and Registry (NMLS). As the NMLS is introducing a new system for submitting and managing surety bond requirements, it’s important for businesses to get acquainted with the...