WHITE MOUNTAINS TO ACQUIRE LLOYDS OF LONDON UNDERWRITER
White Mountains Insurance is about to become an insurer of the most wellknown insurer in the world, Lloyds of London.
The reinsurer — based in Hanover, but officially headquartered in Bermuda — bought a majority stake in Ark Insurance Holdings Ltd., the parent company of Ark Syndicate Management Limited, which underwrites about a half billion dollars in coverage for Lloyds.
To do so, White Mountains agreed to invest as much as $800 million in the 13-year-old British company, which currently underwrites Lloyds’ 4020 and 3902 syndicates, a diversified portfolio of reinsurance and insurance policies, including property, accident and health, energy, marine and political risks.
Under the deal, which is expected to close in January, White Mountains would start by infusing $605 million in capital and buy $41 million worth of shares from the exiting owners, resulting in a 72% ownership stake. British authorities have to approve the deal.
SOCLEAN LAYS OFF 23
Peterborough-based SoClean has laid off 23 employees in recent weeks but is still hiring for other positions, CEO Bob Wilkins said, as call center work has shrunk while other sectors, such as research and development, continue to grow.
SoClean has over 200 employees, just as it did last year at this time, he said, after first-quarter growth was stymied by effects from Covid-19, causing the company to reorganize its focus.
The closure of certain sleep centers and medical supply companies due to the pandemic contributed to a drop in CPAP cleaning machine sales, he said, which meant drops in related setup calls that forced the company to lay off call center employees based in Peterborough and Montana.
The company is reorganizing to focus on the new products they launched this summer, including an air purifier and surface disinfector.
LIBERTY MUTUAL LAYS OFF 27, SENDING SOME JOBS OVERSEAS
Liberty Mutual is laying off 27 people at its Dover campus as part of two separate nationwide restructurings, according to a company spokesperson.
Layoffs at the roughly 2,200-employee Dover campus and at other Liberty Mutual offices aren’t driven by the economic pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Glenn Greenberg, Liberty Mutual’s director of media relations.
Liberty Mutual is one of the largest employers in Dover and employs approximately 35,000 people companywide.
SIG SAUER TO EXPAND INTO ROCHESTER
Firearms manufacturer SIG Sauer plans to acquire a multi-building campus in Rochester, where it will relocate its Dover operation and expand overall operations in the Granite State, the company said. The site at Crossroads Industrial Park, which was previously owned by Stonewall Kitchen, is more than 35 acres and has up to 210,000 square feet. The company said it expects to employ about 300 people there.
All told, SIG employs about 1,200 people in New Hampshire, most of them at its Newington headquarters.
