Markel completes acquisition of Alterra

Published May 1, 2013 by Jessica Sabbath

Markel Corp. announced Wednesday that it has completed its $3.1 billion acquisition of Alterra Capital Holdings to expand into the reinsurance business.

As a result, Markel will be adding two new business units: Markel Global Insurance for large commercial accounts and Markel Global Reinsurance. They will join Markel’s existing Markel Specialty, Markel Wholesale and Markel International units.

The combined company will have about $23 billion in combined assets and $6 billion in shareholder equity.

“We welcome the Alterra underwriting, claims and support teams, who will expand our product offerings as well as our geographic reach,” CEO Alan Kirschner said in a statement. “With that greater underwriting depth and our enhanced financial scale, we are confident we will better serve our customers.”