PARIS, April 15, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- SCOR Group (NYSE:SCO) today confirmed that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its Fulcrum business unit, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, to the Argonaut Group, Inc. of San Antonio, Texas.
SCOR Group acquired Fulcrum Insurance Company as part of its purchase of Sorema in July of 2001. The business unit sold had recorded gross written premiums for 2001 of USD 45.6 million and Fulcrum's capital and surplus as of December 31, 2001, was USD 24.6 million.
Jerome Faure, President & CEO of SCOR US, said: "While we valued highly the Fulcrum staff of professionals, the surplus lines operations simply did not fit with our core reinsurance business."
This transaction will free up capital for SCOR's reinsurance operations in the U.S. market, allowing it to further take advantage of the strong market recovery.
The closing will take place as soon as possible, following applicable regulatory and other approvals.
With 30 offices around the world, serving clients in over 150 countries, SCOR is France's largest reinsurer and one of the industry world leaders. Thanks to its ability to provide innovative technical and service support, the SCOR Group has built up a well balanced portfolio of Property and Casualty, Life, Accident & Health and Specialty reinsurance products and services. The Group's ratings, which include AA- from Fitch, A (Excellent) from AM Best and A+ from Standard & Poor's, reflect its financial strength and underwriting expertise. SCOR shares, which belong to the SBF 120, Bloomberg European Insurance, NEXT 150 and Dow Jones STOXX indexes, are listed in Paris and New York. SCOR has a widely diversified international shareholder base, with more than 20,000 shareholders in 64 countries.