Amynta Group acquires surety business of Aspen Insurance

Amynta Group, a New York-based warranty company, has acquired the surety business of Bermuda-based insurance company Aspen Insurance for an undisclosed price.

The acquired business will be renamed as Amynta Surety Solutions.

Established in 2011, the former surety business of Aspen Insurance provides underwriting expertise in the commercial surety market. The company is engaged in catering to the Fortune 1000 market, specialty market niches, and large private account business where risk selection and loss mitigation are important. Amynta Surety Solutions will be based in Glastonbury, Connecticut, and will continue under the leadership of its present CEO Michael Toppi.

Robert Giammarco – Chairman and CEO of Amynta Group said: “We are very excited to welcome Michael Toppi and the entire surety team to Amynta, forming the foundation of our surety practice. The business brings a well-established surety team with a proven underwriting track record and culture of delivering creative solutions for clients.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Crum & Forster to support the growth of Amynta Surety Solutions. Crum & Forster has a strong surety practice and offers excellent security to our clients.”

As part of the deal, Amynta has forged a partnership with Crum & Forster, a US property and casualty insurance company, which is fully-owned by Fairfax Financial. Under the partnership, Crum & Forster will offer the underwriting capacity for the business and assume Aspen Insurance’s in-force surety portfolio.

Amynta Surety Solutions, as part of the partnership, will be the exclusive writer of large commercial surety bonds for Crum & Forster.

Mark Cloutier – Aspen Insurance Chairman and CEO said: “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Amynta and Crum & Forster. As we continue to seek ways to achieve our long-term value creation objectives through actions including reviewing our product set, reducing complexity and improving efficiency, we always strive to solve for the needs of our trading partners and our people.

“Our surety business has enjoyed strong underwriting performance and delivered profits to Aspen, creating strong valuation in a competitive marketplace that includes a quota share arrangement as part of our ongoing relationship.

“This agreement facilitates continuity for both our clients and colleagues with a strong partnership in place that is focused on strategic growth, which was a key consideration in our decision. More than that, this agreement creates a lasting trading relationship of shared benefit and value-add for all three organizations involved.”

For Amynta Group, the legal counsel was Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. On the other hand, for Aspen Insurance, the legal counsel was Lewis & Bockius, while GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities, was the financial advisor.