A.M. Best Comments on Completion of Zurich Life U.S. Companies Sale.Business Editors OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2003 A.M. Best Co. notes the completion of the acquisition of three insurance companies from the Zurich Life U.S. Group (ZLUS)--Federal Kemper Life Assurance Company (FKLA), Zurich Life Insurance Company of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of (ZLICONY) and Zurich Life Insurance Company of America (ZLICA)--by Bank One Corporation. The A (Excellent) financial strength ratings of the three companies remain under review with developing implications. On May 30, 2003, Zurich Financial Services Zurich Financial Services Group is a major financial services group based in Zurich, Switzerland. Global operations North America The US consumer market is served primarily by Farmers Insurance Group the third largest personal lines property & casualty insurance (ZFS (1) (Zettabyte File System) A distributed file system from Sun that was added to OpenSolaris in 2005 and Solaris 10 in 2006. With support for 128 bits, compared to 64 for NTFS and other contemporary file systems, storage capacity is unlimited for all practical ), the ultimate parent of ZLUS, announced its intention to sell FKLA, ZLICONY, ZLICA, several other subsidiaries and a portion of Kemper Investors Life Insurance Company's business via reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. transactions to Bank One Corp., an Illinois-based financial institution. Bank One will provide investment management services for ZFS on some selected segments of their portfolios and will provide administrative functions for certain KILICO KILICO Kemper Investors Life Insurance Company lines of business. Additionally, Bank One will be a key new distribution source for the newly acquired companies, FKLA, ZLICA and ZLICONY. Following the completion of the transaction, A.M. Best will be meeting in the near-term with the new Bank One management team to discuss the strategic and business development plans for these entities. Once the review is completed, A.M. Best plans to reevaluate the ratings of the acquired companies. If there is a strong likelihood of successful integration with Bank One's existing operations and culture, if implementation plans to drive improved operating performance from the acquired businesses appear feasible, and if the companies employ low-risk financial strategies and are well capitalized Capitalized Recorded in asset accounts and then depreciated or amortized, as is appropriate for expenditures for items with useful lives longer than one year. , then A.M. Best will view the transaction positively. Conversely con·verse 1 intr.v. con·versed, con·vers·ing, con·vers·es 1. To engage in a spoken exchange of thoughts, ideas, or feelings; talk. See Synonyms at speak. 2. , there could be negative rating pressure if A.M. Best perceives there are risks or challenges to Bank One's plans that could result in an inability to achieve these results. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com. |
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