Liberty Mutual merges US businesses after closing Ironshore deal
Liberty Mutual has announced that in the wake of its acquisition of Ironshore it has merged its existing Liberty International Underwriters (LIU) US business and Ironshore’s US specialty lines business under the Ironshore brand.
At the start of the month Liberty Mutual completed the acquisition of 100 percent ownership interest in Ironshore from Chinese conglomerate Fosun International for around $2.94 billion.
Liberty Mutual said that the merger creates the sixth-largest excess & surplus (E&S) lines writer in the US with approximately $6.5 billion in net written premium based on 2016 figures.
Ironshore’s CEO Kevin Kelley will continue to lead all of Ironshore’s operations and report directly to Liberty Mutual Insurance chairman and CEO David Long.
"The combination of our two operations will create a top tier US specialty insurer with a broad and deep set of solutions for clients and brokers," Long commented. "For Liberty’s worldwide operations,
Ironshore becomes an ideal complement to our $5 billion global specialty business by providing additional scale, expertise, innovation and market relationships."
The combined US specialty organisation will be led by Ironshore president and US CEO Shaun Kelly, who will report to Kelley.
The company said that Ironshore’s existing international businesses, including its Lloyd’s syndicate operation and Bermuda platform will continue to operate with its existing management team and Ironshore brand. Mitch Blaser, Ironshore COO, CEO Ironshore Bermuda and CEO IronServe, and Mark Wheeler, CEO Ironshore International, will continue to report directly to Kelley.
The product leadership team of the combined US specialty operation will include John O’Brien as head of environmental; Matthew Dolan as head of IronHealth; Michael Finnegan as head of US casualty; Greg Flood as head of IronPro; Edward Mazman as head of US property; and Daniel Sussman as head of US political risk.
Joseph Boren will be the head of US distribution, reporting directly to Kelly. Jessica Rogin will be Ironshore’s US chief claims officer, reporting directly to Ironshore’s global chief claims officer Mike Mitrovic. And, Randall Kneeland will be Ironshore's chief financial officer, reporting directly to Kelley.
Kelley said: "Ironshore’s profitable specialty lines business will further bolster Liberty Mutual’s specialty markets platform, while Liberty Mutual’s strong balance sheet presents Ironshore opportunities to innovate additional product lines and to access greater insurance underwriting capacity.
"Ironshore looks forward to working with the Liberty Mutual family as we expand upon our specialty classes of business and heighten our established corporate brand in markets worldwide. Liberty Mutual’s global reach and admirable reputation offer Ironshore deeper resources to drive strategic growth.
Meanwhile, ratings agency AM Best has removed Ironshore Insurance and its subsidiaries from “under review with developing implications.”
