W. R. Berkley Corporation Increases Dividend 20%

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: BER) announced that its Board of Directors has voted to increase the cash dividend to the annual rate of 20 cents per share representing a 20 percent increase from the prior year’s rate. The first quarterly dividend at the new rate of 5 cents per share will be paid on April 3, 2007 to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 19, 2007. Founded in 1967, W. R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that is among the largest commercial lines writers in the United States and operates in five segments of the property casualty insurance business: specialty insurance, regional property casualty insurance, alternative markets, reinsurance, and international.