U.S. merger and acquisition values lowest since 2002: Conning

Last year the United States saw the lowest value of insurance transactions since 2002, according to research by Conning Research & Consulting.
The study, Global Insurance Mergers & Acquisitions in 2009, tracks and analyzes both U.S. and non-U.S. insurance industry merger and acquisition activity across property-casualty, life, health and distribution and services sectors.
“In the U.S., the value of insurance industry transactions was the lowest we have reported since 2002,” said Jerry Theodorou, analyst at Conning Research & Consulting.
He added that the value of mergers and acquisitions deals in the U.S. property-casualty sector dropped 78% in 2009.
A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, On the Road Again ¬– Transactions in an Opportunistic Market, suggests that deal activity in the U.S. insurance sector is likely to remain muted overall, “given the known impact of proposed regulatory reform, fewer distressed sellers in the marketplace and an industry disposition toward rebuilding balance sheets over mergers and acquisitions,” a PwC release says.
But continued soft pricing in the property-casualty sector is prompting consolidation, it continued.