Alleghany Corporation Announces Investment in Homesite Group Incorporated.

NEW YORK -- Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y) announced today that it has entered into a stock purchase agreement with Homesite Group Incorporated pursuant to which Alleghany will acquire 85,714 shares of common stock of Homesite, representing approximately 32.9% of Homesite common stock after giving effect to the transaction, for a purchase price of approximately $120 million. The transaction has been approved by the Boards of Directors of Alleghany and Homesite and is subject to certain closing conditions, including the receipt of all required regulatory approvals.

Homesite, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, was formed in 1997 by The Plymouth Rock Company and Morgan Stanley Capital Partners to capitalize on opportunities in the homeowners insurance market. The vision was to create a specialist in the homeowners insurance line that would be the first and only national, full-service, mono-line provider of homeowners insurance in the United States. Homesite's current focus is on middle market homeowners and through its nine insurance subsidiaries, Homesite currently insures approximately 300,000 homes on a nationwide basis. Homesite's marketing strategy is to form marketing arrangements with large personal lines insurance companies and financial institutions, using state-of-the-art operating systems to offer its partners everything from turnkey outsourcing of the product line to fully-integrated point-of-sale solutions.

Alleghany is engaged through its subsidiary Alleghany Insurance Holdings LLC (consisting of RSUI Group, Inc., AIHL Re LLC, Capitol Transamerica Corporation and Darwin Professional Underwriters, Inc.) in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance businesses.

This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to the anticipated effects of the transaction. Actual results of the transaction could be significantly different. Factors that could affect results include those set forth in filings made by Alleghany with the SEC. Although forward-looking statements help to provide complete information about future prospects, readers should keep in mind that forward-looking statements are much less reliable than historical information.