A.M. Best Acquires TRAC Insurance Services, A Canadian Rating Agency and Information Provider.OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 1999-- A.M. Best Co. today announced that it has acquired TRAC TRAC - Text Reckoning And Compiling Insurance Services Ltd. -- an independent Canadian Canadian (kənā`dēən), river, 906 mi (1,458 km) long, rising in NE New Mexico. and flowing E across N Texas and central Oklahoma into the Arkansas River in E Oklahoma. insurance rating agency -- and renamed it A.M. Best Canada Ltd. The acquisition of Toronto-based TRAC -- the leading provider of insurance industry business information and financial strength ratings in Canada -- is the latest step in A.M. Best's global expansion. Over the past three years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time 100-year-old rating agency has more than tripled its international staff. In 1997, it opened an office in London, and last year it acquired London-based Financial Intelligence & Research Ltd. -- the leading insurance business information and software company specializing in the Lloyd's and U.K. insurance market. FI&R subsequently was renamed A.M. Best International. "The acquisition of TRAC positions A.M. Best as the number one business information provider and rating agency in Canada specializing in the insurance industry," said A.M. Best Chairman Arthur Snyder in announcing the transaction. "The Canadian insurance market--like those in many major countries--is undergoing significant consolidation and demutualization Demutualization The process of changing corporate structure from a mutual fund company to some other form, such as a limited liability or corporation. Notes: This means mutual/life insurance companies convert from policyholder companies to stock companies. . It is demanding that information and rating agencies provide broader and more comprehensive services. This acquisition fits nicely into our global strategy of providing the highest-quality business information and ratings." A.M. Best rates more than 5,000 insurance companies operating in 65 countries and provides insurance industry data, news and analysis through its extensive portfolio of print and electronic products. TRAC Chairman Don Smith said, "TRAC has provided a valuable service to the life and property/casualty industry to brokers and consumers in Canada. We believe A.M. Best, with its exceptional resources, can take this service to the next level." TRAC has been reporting on the financial solvency The ability of an individual to pay his or her debts as they mature in the normal and ordinary course of business, or the financial condition of owning property of sufficient value to discharge all of one's debts. solvency n. of Canadian insurance companies This is a partial list of Canadian insurance companies:
A.M. Best Canada will continue to operate under the direction of its general manager, Joel Baker, and its products and services will be integrated with those of the A.M. Best group of companies over time. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, as both companies are privately held. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is America's oldest and most widely recognized insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com. |
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