PHLY/Tokio Marine Merger Approved

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department has approved Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.'s acquisition of Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based property/casualty insurer Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. (PHLY, $1.6 billion in 2007 premium income).

The Department's approval furthers the objectives of a merger agreement announced in late July whereby a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokio Marine would merge with and into PHLY and Tokio Marine would acquire all outstanding shares of the company for $61.50 per share in cash, according to PHLY.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2008, subject to receipt of approval of Tokio Marine's acquisition of control of PHLY from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, regulatory approval of the proposed merger transaction by the Financial Services Agency of Japan, and the approval of the merger agreement by PHLY's shareholders.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio