Hamilton USA Becomes Valiant Insurance’s Latest Owner

Valiant Insurance Company has traded hands again. This time, the new owner is Hamilton USA, the New Jersey-based insurance operations of Hamilton Insurance Group.

Here’s the transaction in detail: Hamilton said it has snatched up both Valiant Insurance Company and Valiant Specialty Insurance Company. Both are U.S. based Valiant divisions. The former is an admitted insurance company and the latter, a surplus lines insurer.

Hamilton completed the acquisition for an undisclosed price, through Hamilton U.S. Holdings, Inc. the holding company for its U.S. platform.

Valiant was most recently owned by a subsidiary of TIG Insurance Company, the deal announcement noted.

For Hamilton, the deal is a big milestone. Assuming regulators approve everything, Valiant Insurance Company will gain a new name—Hamilton Insurance Company. Similarly, Valiant Specialty Insurance Company will become Hamilton Specialty Insurance Company.

TIG Insurance Company isn’t out of the picture yet, either. The deal calls for it to reinsure, on a 100 percent quota-share basis, all the legacy insurance business written by the two Valiant companies, also assuming any other liabilities or obligations stemming from their respective businesses prior to the deal close. It will also handle policyholder communications, and service both Valiant divisions’ pre-closing business, according to the deal announcement. (TIG will not reinsure any of the going forward business to be written.)

Hamilton Insurance Group CEO Brian Duperreault said in statement that the acquisitions will help the company explore the potential of data analytics, under the leadership of Hamilton USA CEO Conan Ward.

Ward, in another prepared statement, said Hamilton is “starting with a clean slate with these two carriers” and that the acquisition “enables us to move quickly to execute on a truly innovative business model.” He added that the company will plow ahead in the data analytics direction, in part through its work with technology partner Two Sigma, to “create significant value for our customers and producers.”

The soon-to-be renamed Hamilton Insurance Company has licenses in 47 states and the District of Columbia. As well, it will be Hamilton USA’s admitted U.S. carrier. Hamilton Specialty Insurance Company is also set to be Hamilton USA’s surplus lines U.S. carrier, Hamilton Insurance Group said.

Valiant has traded hands and evolved several times in the last seven years.

In October 2007, Ariel Re purchased Valiant Insurance Company as a shell from Zurich North America to serve as the U.S. specialty insurance operation for the Bermuda company. Ariel was one of the Class of 2005 Bermuda companies set up with $1 billion of capital from private equity investors in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma to capitalize on opportunities in the property-catastrophe reinsurance market.

In 2009, Valiant Insurance Group set up Valiant Specialty Insurance Company as the E&S carrier for Valiant’s U.S. operations.

In July 2010, First Mercury acquired Valiant Insurance Group for $55 million. Four months later, Fairfax Financial Holdings acquired First Mercury for nearly $300 million. Fairfax acquired TIG Insurance back in the 1990s.

Source: Hamilton USA