UPC Insurance completes merger with American Coastal

United Insurance Holdings (UPC), a property/casualty insurance holding company, has completed its merger with Florida-based American Coastal Insurance Company.

UPC said that the acquisition was finalised through a series of mergers that resulted in the company issuing 20,956,355 shares of its common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, as merger consideration to the equity holders of RDX Holding, the parent of American Coastal.

Under the terms of the transaction, UPC’s board of directors expanded from seven to ten directors with the addition of Michael Hogan, Patrick Maroney and Dan Peed.

Peed, the CEO of American Coastal, has also been appointed non-executive vice chairman of the UPC board.

"We are thrilled to complete this merger with American Coastal," said John Forney, president and CEO of UPC Insurance. "It brings us increased scale, reduced volatility, and strategic opportunities for future growth. The American Coastal team has established an amazing track record of generating profits and shareholder value over a long period of time and through many insurance cycles."

Forney added: "We’re fortunate that Dan Peed has joined our board as non-executive vice chairman, and that he has brought with him Mike Hogan and Pat Maroney, both of whom have great experience and complementary skills to our existing board.

"We’re also grateful to be able to extend the exclusive MGA agreement with AmRisc the premier wind MGA in the country, and we look forward to working with the AmRisc and BB&T teams to expand our distribution footprint. This merger marks the start of the next phase of the UPC journey. We’re ready to get started."

Peed commented: "This is a great day. As we went through the transition process over the past seven months, it became even more clear that the combination of these two companies creates a unique specialty underwriter with tremendous growth opportunities and the right people and infrastructure to take advantage of them. I look forward to joining the UPC Board and helping to shape future strategic initiatives."

The companies announced the all-stock merger in August 2017. The total consideration value of the transaction is approximately $330 million based on non-discounted share value, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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