Gen Re wins restraining order against Arch

STAMFORD, Conn.--A state court judge issued a restraining order Wednesday against Arch Capital Group Ltd. and four former managers of General Reinsurance Corp. who left to join Arch earlier this year.

The Connecticut Superior Court judge granted the order after Gen Re filed suit against Arch and the former employees, who had worked in its facultative reinsurance department, alleging the managers had "plotted to sell to the highest bidder the Gen Re business for which they were responsible," court documents say.

The managers--Jennifer Apgar, Philip Augur, Steven Franklin and Kenneth Vivian--in April orchestrated an "en masse departure" that included 26 other Gen Re employees, Gen Re alleges.

Arch "aided and abetted their breaches of fiduciary duty in order to enter a business in which they had never competed," the suit says.

Gen Re formed its property facultative reinsurance division in 1956 and has spent "hundreds of millions of dollars to develop (it) into the successful and valuable business it is today."

A spokesman for Arch could not be reached.