HCC TO ACQUIRE
UNITED STATES SURETY COMPANY
HOUSTON (November 15, 2004) . . .
HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE symbol: HCC)
announced today, that the Company had reached an agreement to acquire United
States Surety Company (USSC) for an undisclosed consideration payable in HCC
shares. This transaction is subject to signing a definitive agreement and
regulatory approval from the State of Maryland.
USSC, founded in 1996, is a surety company based in Timonium, Maryland
specializing in contract bonding for small and medium size contractors in
Maryland, Pennsylvania and several other contiguous states. Following this
transaction, USSC is expected to grow its business to more than $25 million
in premium over the next few years.
Richard E. Klein, founder and Chief Executive Officer, will remain with the
company following the closing. Mr. Klein said, “We are excited about our new
relationship with HCC, who can provide us with the capital, strong financial
rating and other resources that we need to continue to grow our business
while maintaining our underwriting discipline.”
Stephen L. Way, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HCC, commenting on
the transaction said, “We are very pleased to welcome Richard Klein and his
team of professionals to the HCC Group, where they provide us a superb
platform to expand our small and medium size surety business to the US east
coast.”
Earlier in 2004, HCC announced the formation of HCC Surety Group to
specialize in writing all forms of small and medium size surety and credit
business. HCC Surety Group, which expects to write premium in 2005 of more
than $100 million, currently consists of American Contractors Indemnity
Company based in Los Angeles
www.acicbond.com; the
surety business of HCC’s Spanish insurance company subsidiary HCC Europe
www.hcceurope.com;
and strategic investments in surety companies SureTec Financial Corp. in
Houston, Texas
www.suretec.com and DeMontfort Insurance Group in the UK
www.demontfort.com;
and IndemCo, an underwriting agency in Houston, Texas
www.indemco.com.
HCC is an international insurance holding company and a leading specialty
insurance group since 1974, based in Houston, Texas with offices across the
USA and in Bermuda, England and Spain. HCC has assets of more than $5
billion, shareholders’ equity of over $1 billion and is rated AA (Very
Strong) by Standard & Poor’s and A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company.
For more information, visit our website at
www.hcch.com.
|
Contact:
|
L. Byron Way, Vice
President
HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc.
Telephone: (713) 690-7300
|
|
|
|
Forward-looking statements contained in this press
release are made under “safe harbor” provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of risks
and uncertainties. The types of risks and uncertainties which may
affect the Company are set forth in its periodic reports filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
|
* *
* * |
|
