Core Specialty Insurance Holdings Inc has announced an agreement to acquire London Aviation Underwriters Inc (LAU) in a stock and cash transaction.
The deal will result in LAU becoming part of Core Specialty’s aviation and aerospace division, marking the 18th specialty business unit within its fronted programs subsegment, which also includes divisions for fronted casualty and medical stop-loss.
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Core Specialty did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Effective Jan. 1, LAU’s employees will transition to Core Specialty, with the division continuing to operate under the LAU brand. StarStone National Insurance Co will remain the policy-issuing carrier for LAU business.
Core Specialty noted that the acquisition will add significant expertise to its portfolio, with LAU bringing decades of experience in aviation and aerospace underwriting and claims management. In 2023, LAU wrote $56 million in gross premiums.
Jeff Consolino, president and CEO of Core Specialty, said that LAU has been a key source of aviation business for the company.
"LAU has been our exclusive source of aviation business and produced $56 million in gross premiums written in 2023," Consolino said.
Jeff Sutton, president of LAU, will lead the newly formed aviation and aerospace division within Core Specialty. Sutton, who has over 36 years of industry experience, joined LAU as vice president and claims manager before becoming president in 2008.
This acquisition follows Core Specialty’s recent purchase of American Surety Co and Underwriters Surety Inc, which added $93 million in gross premiums written in 2023 to the company’s surety division.
At the time of that transaction, Core Specialty appointed Tim Martin, a 40-year industry veteran, as president of the surety division.
American Surety will continue to operate under its brand as a separate division within Core Specialty, with management and offices in Indianapolis and Peoria, Ill.
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