Mapfre's $1.54B Safety Insurance Buy to Lift Profit 5%, Quake Losses Limited
SAFT sits 50% above its 52-week low of $67.035.
Summary
Mapfre's acquisition of Safety Insurance, announced yesterday, will boost net profit by 5% once integrated, the Spanish insurer said alongside half-year results. The deal values Safety at $1.54 billion in cash. Mapfre's H1 net profit rose 9.4% to €624.2 million, with limited catastrophe losses aside from €25 million from Venezuela quakes. The combined ratio improved to 92.8%, and management is cautiously optimistic for H2. This follows Safety's Q1 loss and recent insider selling, making the all-cash exit at a premium a positive resolution for shareholders.
At the time of this announcement, SAFT was trading at $100.35 on NASDAQ in the Finance sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.1B. The 52-week trading range was $67.04 to $81.49. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: Reuters.