Maiden to sell North America reinsurance operations

Maiden Holdings is in advanced discussions regarding the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Maiden Reinsurance North America (MRNA) to a third party.

The transaction would cover approximately $1.1 billion of loss and a loss adjustment expense (LAE) reserves as of June 30, 2018.

The move is a result of a strategic review of the company’s operations. The company is also replacing the CEO and the chief financial officer amidst a restructuring of the business. Lawrence Metz, Maiden’s current executive vice president, general counsel and secretary is taking over the CEO role from Art Raschbaum.

In addition, Patrick Haveron, currently president of Maiden Reinsurance (Maiden Bermuda), will take the roles of Maiden’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer effective Sept. 1, 2018.

Karen Schmitt, chief financial officer, has announced her retirement.

As part of the restructuring, Maiden plans to focus on niches within its diversified platform. Along with cutting expenses this will bring the company back to acceptable levels of profitability, according to Barry Zyskind, chairman of the board of directors.

In the first six months of 2018, the diversified reinsurance segment produced an underwriting loss of $1.2 million compared to a loss of $26.3 million in the same period of 2017.

Overall, the combined ratio of the group was 103.9 percent in the first six months of 2018 compared to 103.4 percent in the same period a year ago.

Earlier in 2018 Maiden launched a strategic review of its operations. As part of this ongoing process, the company is evaluating a broad range of options. The company has said that it will be maintaining a substantial presence in the US reinsurance market.

Maiden Holdings focuses on providing non-catastrophic, customized reinsurance products and services to small and mid-size insurance companies in the US and Europe.

The company anticipated that it will complete its strategic review during the second half of 2018 with the majority of this initiative completed during the upcoming third quarter. As Maiden continues to evaluate various additional strategic measures, it expects improved results of operations from its diversified segment in the future via enhanced underwriting standards and expense reduction. These actions are expected to position the company for growth with greater operating efficiencies going forward, the company said.

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