The Navigators Group agreed to pay $41.2 million for Belgian specialty insurer ASCO and a connected insurance underwriting agency, a transaction that will help expand its specialty insurance business across Europe.

Plans call for closing the acquisition in the first half of 2018, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions.

Navigators’ purchase agreement covers all the shares of Assurances Continentales – Continentale Verzekeringen NV (ASCO) and Bracht, Deckers & Mackelbert NV (BDM). ASCO offers marine and property/casualty insurance, while BDM underwrites risk coverage in niche markets for ASCO and other major international insurers.

As part of the deal, Navigators will also acquire all the shares of Canal Re SA, a Luxembourg reinsurance company that is a wholly owned ASCO subsidiary.

Beyond expansion across Europe, Connecticut-based Navigators said the deal also allows it to best serve its clients in the EU market after Brexit.

Stanley Galanski, Navigators’ president and CEO, said the acquisition of ASCO and BDM helps support its ongoing plan to expand across continental Europe.

“Europe is an important market to us today and vital to our international growth strategy,” Galanski said in prepared remarks. “BDM has a strong reputation, a rich history and a well established culture of underwriting expertise that mirrors our own. Together with ASCO, they provide Navigators with a scalable platform to support our product lines and geographic expansion across continental Europe.”

Galanski added that Navigators plans to combine its existing European underwriting operations with BDM’s. After the deal closes, Navigators said Antwerp will become its hub for continental Europe.

The Navigators Group is a global specialty insurance holding company.

Source: The Navigators Group