Australia-based general insurance and reinsurance company QBE Insurance Group is to acquire Mexican insurer Seguros Cumbre de CV for an undisclosed price.
Seguros Cumbre de CV (Cumbre Seguros) offers commercial insurance to small to medium clients and in 2006, wrote $57 million of gross written premium. It has 73 employees and three offices in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
Although the purchase price for the Mexican insurer remains undisclosed, QBE did state that it will be based on a low multiple of net tangible assets of an estimated $26 million. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
The acquisition of Cumbre Seguros is in line with our strategy of gradually building our presence in Latin America, said Frank O’Halloran, QBE’s CEO. QBE will now write over $200 million of general insurance premium income in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.
At present, the Australian insurance firm earns approximately 40% of its gross written premium from the Americas, 40% from Britain and 20% from its home country.