Hartford to buy Navigators for $2.1 billion

(Reuters) — Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said Wednesday it will buy Navigators Group Inc. in a $2.1 billion cash deal to expand its product offerings and geographic reach.

Navigators provides insurance services to marine, construction and energy industries, among other things, and has operations in 22 U.S. states.

In addition to an established presence at Lloyd’s of London, Navigators also has growing underwriting operations in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The $70-per-share offer represents a premium of 9% to Navigators Group’s Tuesday close.

Hartford said it had sufficient resources to fund the deal and does not plan to offer shares in connection with the acquisition.

The deal, expected to close in the first half of 2019, may slightly reduce Hartford’s 2019 earnings, but add between $30 million and $75 million to its net income in 2020, the company said.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. was lead financial adviser to Hartford, with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Mayer Brown provided legal counsel to Hartford.

Shares of Navigators were up 10.4% at $70.90 in premarket trading.