Intact Financial to acquire Guarantee and Frank Cowan for C$1bn

Intact Financial has agreed to acquire The Guarantee Company of North America and Frank Cowan Company from Princeton Holdings for C$1 billion, as per the latest insurance acquisition news.

The acquisition is expected to strengthen Intact’s position in Canada, bringing the firm’s annual North American specialty lines direct premiums close to C$3 billion.

The Guarantee is a Canadian-owned specialty lines insurer with customers in Canada and the US. The specialty lines insurer collects over C$560 million in annual gross premiums while Frank Cowan is a managing general agent (MGA) focused on specialty insurance.

Commenting on the acquisition, Charles Brindamour – CEO of Intact Financial said: “The acquisition of The Guarantee Company of North America and Frank Cowan Company is strongly aligned with our strategic and financial objectives.

“We are delivering on our objectives to grow in Canada and build a leading North American specialty platform.”

Intact Financial to acquire Guarantee and Frank Cowan from Princeton Holdings. Photo courtesy of Raysonho/Wikipedia.org.

Intact said it will maintain a strong capital position at closing with an estimated capital margin more than C$1 billion.

Adding surety business and an MGA to the platform, the deal will further expand Intact’s personal lines offering in Canada with high net worth products.

Maureen Cowan – Princeton Holdings board chairman said: “After careful consideration, we believe that combining our strong customer focus and the expertise of our employees in specialty lines and surety, with Intact’s resources, in particular its advanced analytics capabilities, provides tremendous opportunities for the combined entities to leverage one another’s strengths to build an outstanding, Canadian owned, North American specialty insurer.”

Subject to regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Princeton Holdings will continue to retain full ownership of its subsidiaries Cowan Insurance Group, Cowan Asset Management, and Fountain Street Finance.

Princeton Holdings, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario, is a private holding company. Its subsidiaries provide comprehensive insurance, risk management, and wealth management solutions to specialized market segments.

Intact Financial with over C$10 billion in total annual direct premiums provides property and casualty insurance in Canada and specialty insurance in North America.

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