Fosun To Buy Meadowbrook Insurance For $433 Mln

(RTTNews) - Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd (FOSUF.PK, FOSUY.PK) on Tuesday agreed to buy Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc (MIG) for $8.65 per share in cash, representing an aggregate transaction value of about $433 million.

The follows follows a thorough review of strategic alternatives by the Meadowbrook board of directors and represents a 24% premium over Meadowbrook's closing price on December 29. The deal also represents a multiple of about 1.04x Meadowbrook's tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2014.

Fosun is a leading investment group headquartered in Shanghai, China. The acquisition of Southfield, Michigan-based Meadowbrook will enable Fosun to establish a significant presence in the U.S. property and casualty market.

Currently, Fosun has more than one third of its total assets invested in insurance businesses around the world, including investments in Yong'an P&C Insurance, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance and Peak Reinsurance, as well as Fidelidade Group, Portugal's largest insurance company. Fosun's most recent investment in the insurance sector was an acquisition of a 20% equity interest in Ironshore Inc. in August 2014.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by all of the directors of the Meadowbrook board present at the meeting and has been unanimously approved by the Fosun board.

Following the closing of the transaction, which is expected in the second half of 2015, Meadowbrook will continue to maintain its headquarters in Southfield, Michigan and will operate under the Meadowbrook brand name.