Posted on 23 Apr 2008
Today Liberty Mutual Group announced that it would buy property and casualty insurer Safeco for $6.2 billion in a deal that would make Liberty Mutual the fifth-largest U.S. property and casualty insurer.
Each share of Safeco will be exchanged for $68.25 cash, nearly a 51 percent premium over Safeco's closing stock price of $45.23 on Tuesday. Currently, Liberty Mutual is the sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in the United States, based its 2007 direct written premium of $20.2 billion.
Safeco had 2007 direct written premium of $5.9 billion.
"Safeco's operations and product mix complement our existing Agency Markets operations," Liberty Mutual Chairman Edmund Kelly said in a statement.
Safeco would become part of Liberty Mutual's Agency Markets business unit. Combined, the organization would have about 15,000 independent agencies.
