AmTrust Financial Services has completed the sale of some of its global surety operations to Liberty Mutual Insurance, the first piece of a two-part deal designed to help it focus more on local markets.

The transaction that closed May 31 involved AmTrust Surety, AmTrust’s U.S. surety operations. Liberty Mutual also plans to buy related AmTrust operations including AmTrust Insurance Spain, Nationale Borg and Nationale Borg Reinsurance, but those deals will close in the 2019 second half.

Tim Mikolajewski, Liberty Mutual’s president, Global Surety, noted that the insurer’s new acquisitions will beef up its U.S. surety expertise and market leadership, and allow it to better serve its U.S. distribution partners and customers.

“When the full scope of the acquisition is complete later this year, it will provide us with an expanded geographic footprint and further strengthen our best-in-class operation,” he said in prepared remarks.

Liberty Mutual first announced on April 15 its plans to acquire the targeted AmTrust surety and reinsurance operations.

At the end of last year, AmTrust completed the process of becoming a private company in a deal worth just under $3 billion. At the time, AmTrust CEO Barry Zyskind said that the Liberty Mutual transaction represented a big step in its strategic plan known as AmTrust Forward. That plan is designed to help AmTrust become a leading specialty commercial property/casualty insurer by focusing on local markets and niche products.

AmTrust’s focus areas include small commercial P/C insurance, specialty risk and extended warranty.

Source: Liberty Mutual