RSUI Group, CapSpecialty, and Transatlantic Holdings are being acquired by Berkshire Hathaway as part of its purchase of Alleghany Corporation, according to a March 21, 2022 news release. The transaction is valued at $11.6 billion and is expected to close by the end of the year. Berkshire Hathaway panel counsel attorneys and Alleghany panel counsel lawyers will want to monitor the situation.
RSUI is a leading underwriter of wholesale specialty insurance. They work with insurance wholesalers to provide a wide range of insurance products, including property, casualty, professional liability, directors and officers (“D&O”) and liquor liability coverage. RSUI provides insurance to thousands of companies nationwide. Landmark American Insurance Company and Covington Specialty Insurance Company are subsidiaries of RSUI.
CapSpecialty is committed to being the preferred specialty insurance provider for small and mid-sized businesses across the U.S. It offers commercial property and casualty, healthcare practice, professional liability, surety, and fidelity products in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia. They have both admitted and non-admitted capabilities. CapSpecialty maintains offices in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin. The financial stability of the company’s carriers, Capitol Indemnity Corporation, Capitol Specialty Insurance Corporation and Platte River, are rated A “Excellent” by A.M. Best.
Transatlantic Holdings, Inc., founded in 1952, is an international reinsurance organization headquartered in New York. TransRe products include traditional casualty, commercial and personal automobiles, general liability, workers’ compensation, and employer practices liability insurance (EPLI). Specialty casualty includes professional liability, errors and omissions (E&O), directors and officers (D&O), medical malpractice, accident and health, environmental, personal accident, and property. Other products include marine, aviation, aerospace, surety & credit, financial risk/surety, agriculture, energy, engineering, and construction.
Alleghany Capital Corporation, another Alleghany subsidiary, owns eight other non-financial businesses. These include PCT (industrial tools and mills), Kentucky Trailer, Jazwares, IPS (construction services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries), W&W/AFCO Steel (a structural steel fabricator and erector), Concord (hotel management), Wilbert (funeral and cemetery services), and Piedmont/Wilbert Plastic Services.
Berkshire Hathaway writes over $60 billion in insurance premiums a year across many different brands. Its primary insurance brands include GEICO, National Indemnity Company, MedPro Group, U.S. Liability Insurance (USLI), and Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance. In 2019 the company paid out $38 billion in claims. Warren Buffett serves as chairman and CEO and Charlie Munger is the company’s vice chairman.
Implications for Alleghany and Berkshire Hathaway Panel Counsel
Berkshire Hathaway is known for its decentralized management, and Alleghany will operate independently. The Berkshire Hathaway umbrella includes more than 80 operating subsidiaries (Dairy Queen, See’s Candies, Duracell and other big brands) that maintain internal control over their own operations. At the outset there may not be much change for Alleghany panel counsel law firms. Time will tell what the future brings.
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