Today’s note is a little different. It’s essentially a direct letter to Evan Greenberg that I am sharing with the rest of you. You may have seen reporting that Chubb approached AIG about a takeover. As I’m sure you all know, Evan has deep personal ties to AIG as it’s Continue Reading
AIG M&A Strategy: Dumb & Dumber
Well, I had something else almost ready to go for this week but that can wait because there’s some big insurance news to address. AIG announced two significant transactions last week – one for a 35% stake in Convex and the other for renewal rights to the much maligned Everest Continue Reading
Six Degrees of John Charman: Sompo Acquires Aspen
With last week’s news that Aspen agreed to be acquired by Sompo for $3.5B, I thought it was worth doing a brief retrospective on the Aspen saga and how they ended up here along with the delicious irony of Sompo being the ultimate acquirer. The recent sale was actually Aspen’s Continue Reading
What State Farm Might Buy Next
There’s been a lot of talk about the State Farm deal to invest in ADT, much of which I think misses the point. When you invest $1.2B in a company, the rationale isn’t “hey, we might get a few extra customers”. It’s “we expect the investment return to be above Continue Reading
Will Willis Win A Winning Buyer…Redux!
When the rumors of a Willis sale first emerged two years ago, I speculated that Aon might not be the only option. Since it’s been so long since that first post, I thought I’d re-share that post below with a little bit of additional commentary. First, when I suggested Gallagher Continue Reading
Looking At Potential Outcomes for the Future of The Hartford
This is going to be a challenging one to write. As you all probably know, Chubb has made an offer to acquire Hartford. I have a lot of history with, and respect for, both companies and have been a significant shareholder of both at times. I actually predicted this exact Continue Reading
Insuretech: PUREly Overvalued
Big news for insuretech today and it’s not good. PURE sold itself for $3.1B to Tokio Marine. This is a great outcome for PURE and they are to be congratulated on building such a successful business in a relatively short time (11 years). However, this is pretty terrible news for Continue Reading
Will Willis Win a Willing Buyer?
DISCLAIMER: This is not investment advice. Don’t take it as such!Also, I have not spoken to any of the companies mentioned below. All that follows is pure speculation on my part. Highlights:1) Willis Towers is now in play, whether they want to be or not.2) Aon pulled a master stroke Continue Reading