QBE acquires US agri insurer
QBE Insurance has made another acquisition — this time the NAU Country Insurance Company (NAU) in the US.
QBE announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today that it had acquired NAU, describing it as a leading underwriter and manager of multi-peril crop insurance.
The QBE announcement said the transaction had involved a purchase price of US$565 million and would be funded from existing resources.
Commenting on the acquisition, QBE chief executive Frank O’Halloran said it was in line with the company’s long-term strategy of acquiring specialist businesses to further enhance its product diversification and distribution.
“NAU is a very well managed and profitable crop insurance provider in the US with excellent systems,” he said.
O’Halloran said synergies were expected from savings in reinsurance costs and the cross selling of QBE’s various agricultural insurance products to the NAU client base.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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