The Travelers Cos. said it will be expanding into Colombia through a joint venture it has maintained in Brazil.

By way of its partnership with J. Malucelli Participações em Seguros e Resseguros S.A, the property/casualty insurance giant said it will grab a majority interest in Cardinal Compañía de Seguros, a Colombian start-up surety provider based in Bogotá.

Plans call for co-branding the Colombia operation as J. Malucelli Travelers. Neither side disclosed financial specifics of the investment.

Tom Kunkel, president of Bond & Specialty Insurance at Travelers, explained in prepared remarks that the investment will allow its ongoing Brazil joint venture to take advantage of “profitable opportunities in Colombia.”

Back in April 2014, Travelers CEO Jay Fishman hinted during the company’s 2014 first quarter investor call that execs would be open to other partnerships/investments similar to the J. Malucelli arrangement, depending on the deal.

In other words, Fishman said the company would be open to selective M&A opportunities and partnerships, particularly overseas.

“We will look at anything because you always learn by whatever you look at,” Fishman said during the call. “But our interest is very selective [as we have] achieved a level of performance and returns and profitability, at least domestically, where we don’t need to be any bigger to be successful.”

Source: The Travelers Cos.