Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. agreed to acquire high-net-worth specialist Privilege Underwriters Inc. and its subsidiaries, known as Pure Group, for about $3.1 billion. The sale price equates to a price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 33x based on White Plains, N.Y.-based Pure Group's expected profit after tax of $95 million in 2020.
Allianz Group CEO Oliver Bäte has thrown strong criticism at the European Central Bank, saying it is politicized, the Financial Times reported.
Chubb Ltd. will stop writing wholesale international liability business in London, and is understood to be only offering short-term renewals, The Insurance Insider reported.
MS Amlin PLC is considering a sale of its aviation book, which consists of about $100 million in premiums, the Insider reported, citing sources. The company recently decided to exit nine classes of business and operations, including aviation, following an underwriting review.
AmWINS Group Inc. will acquire Scottsdale, Ariz.-based general agent Stealth Partner Group, which specializes in medical stop-loss insurance. Stealth will combine with AmWINS Group company Stop Loss Insurance Services in early 2020, operating under the Stealth brand.
Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. acquired Nationale Borg, Nationale Borg Reinsurance and AmTrust Insurance Spain from AmTrust Financial Services Inc.
Canopius AG has completed the merger of AmTrust at Lloyd's Ltd. Canopius said the deal provides "significant" additional underwriting expertise and a broader product offering, creating a leading Lloyd's of London's insurer of increased scale and "enhanced relevance" to its clients and brokers.
The New York Department of Financial Services has started an investigation over the methods that life insurers and their agents use in selling retirement income products to teachers, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Premium rates for 2020 will increase by an average of 6% for individual and 4% for small group health insurance plans in Idaho.
Private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC acquired Newtown Square, Pa.-based pet health insurance provider Petplan for undisclosed financial terms.
Jon Hancock, performance management director at Lloyd's of London, is exiting as a sponsor of the Future at Lloyd's modernization program, the Insider reported.
Axis Capital decided to pull back its offer to insure the railway of the Carmichael coal mine project in Australia, Reuters reported, citing a source close to the company. The insurer will release a formal coal policy soon, the source added. Fourteen big insurers have so far refused to insure Carmichael, lobby group Market Forces said.
Insurance startup Convex Group was approved to write excess and surplus insurance in the U.S., the Insider reported.
Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence
GEICO, USAA embrace telematics in private auto underwriting: With GEICO and USAA joining the fray, the five largest private auto insurers in the U.S. now have vehicle telematics programs to track and improve driving behavior.
D&O litigation digest: ProPetro faces IPO suit; SinoPac takes on Morgan Stanley
In other parts of the world
Europe: 'Problematic points' seen in new Brexit offer; Metro rebound; Sberbank data leak
Middle East & Africa: Nigeria hikes banks' loans target; Morocco's BCP acquires Cameroon's BICEC
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng jumped 0.26% to 26,110.31, while the Nikkei 225 dropped 2.01% to 21,341.74.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.56% to 7,082.38, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.31% to 1,056.09.
Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.
On the macro front
The challenger job-cut report, the jobless claims report, PMI services index, the factory orders report, ISM non-manufacturing index, the EIA natural gas report, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.
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