Austin Mutual Completes Merger with Cooperative Mutual

Maple Grove, Minn.-based Austin Mutual Insurance Company has completed its merger with Omaha, Neb.-based Cooperative Mutual Insurance Company.

The combined company, which will carry the name of Austin Mutual, projects combined assets of $178 million and $254 million in direct written premium.

Policyholders of Cooperative Mutual Insurance Company are now policyholders of Austin Mutual Insurance Company, and the combined assets of both companies back their policies. All operations of Cooperative Mutual Insurance Company have been transferred to Austin Mutual Insurance Company. Austin will retain Cooperative's management, national distribution system, workforce, and the Omaha-based agribusiness office. The company will continue to offer the lines of business offered through Cooperative Mutual Insurance Company to customers in active agribusiness territories.

"The result of the merger will bring loss control expertise and an agribusiness commercial package policy that to date we haven’t been writing," Austin Mutual president and CEO Jeffrey B. Kusch says in a statement. "Our policyholders will benefit from our shared philosophy and commitment to deliver highly valued insurance solutions.”

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio