St. Paul's/Travelers to merge with Zurich Insurance

The international consolidation of casualty companies continues along at a blistering pace with today's announced intention to merge between St. Paul Casualty and Zurich Financial Services of Switzerland. This follows on the heels of recent deals such as Swiss Re acquiring GE Capitals casualty units, and Old Mutual PLC of South Africa acquiring Skandia AB of Sweden.

 What makes this so interesting is that it clearly indicates that St. Paul's is not slowing down following it's merger with Travelers last year, it's prior acquisition of USF&G and that it's CEO Jay Fishman is intent on building a company that can rival AIG group in size and scope. With many insurance companies selling at low price multiples after last years hurricanes, it's an opportune time for acquisition and consolidation, and this combination if approved, would create one of the largest multi-line companies in the world.