American International Group’s plan to acquire Hamilton USA is worth about $110 million, and its existing leader will remain in place once the deal goes through.
The purchase price amounts to Hamilton USA’s book value at closing, plus $30 million, according to deal documents.
A spokesperson confirmed that Seraina (Maag) Macia, chief executive officer of the division, will remain CEO of the unit and report to new AIG CEO Brian Duperreault once the deal closes, as she had done at Hamilton Insurance Group, of which Hamilton USA is part.
News that Duperreault would leave Hamilton Insurance Group, the company he led and helped found, to take over the struggling insurance giant included an announcement that AIG had agreed in principle to acquire Hamilton USA in order to accelerate its use of data science and analytics in underwriting.
Hamilton Insurance Group itself noted that Macia would remain in her role and that its U.S arm would “continue to execute the current business plan and prepare for its transition to AIG ownership.”
Hamilton USA will be a standalone unit of AIG, Hamilton Insurance Group said, noting that the platform will be used “to develop a state-of-the-art technology platform applying data science and analytics to transform underwriting.”
During the transition, Hamilton USA’s employees will still be part of Hamilton, according to Hamilton Insurance Group.
Macia, like Duperreault, is an AIG veteran.
In a March interview with Carrier Management, Macia explained Hamilton’s long-term plans for Hamilton USA.
“Our goal is to build a data- and technology-driven company in the United States,” she said at the time. “It’s not going to be a traditional platform that you see from our peers. It’s not going to be a brick-and-mortar company.”
She said Hamilton USA had identified opportunities focused mostly on middle-market business, which is a $70 billion-plus marketplace in the United States.
“We see this as a good opportunity to use data science and analytics to really improve underwriting and risk selection, which is what we’re all about. And we want to leverage technology and automation to be a highly efficient company,” Macia said. “That’s our next focus.”