Reuters: Mergers News: UPDATE 1-Liberty Mutual enters Russian auto market

Reuters: Mergers News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

UPDATE 1-Liberty Mutual enters Russian auto market Mar 29th 2012, 13:53 Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:53am EDT * Terms of KIT Finance deal not disclosed * KIT has tiny piece of $21 bln Russian market * Liberty says company growing 27 pct/year BOSTON, March 29 (Reuters) - Liberty Mutual, one of the largest insurance companies in the world, said it would enter the Russian market with a deal to acquire KIT Finance Insurance, which primarily writes auto coverage in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Liberty Mutual is buying KIT from a holding company controlled by the state transport monopoly Russian Railways and its pension fund. Boston-based Liberty Mutual, the world's ninth-largest property and casualty insurer by revenue, gets just over a quarter of its net written premiums from international markets. Passenger auto is the largest line within that segment. U.S.-based insurers have lately been pushing for international growth after years of weakness in domestic rates. Most have focused on Asia or Latin America, though, rather than the $21 billion Russian market. KIT Finance has a small piece of that market, with about $50 million in written premiums last year, though Liberty said on Thursday it has been growing at a 27 percent annual rate. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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