From Trinidad Express

Barbados-based insurance group Sagicor Financial has received approval from regulatory authorities in the United Kingdom and Cayman Islands to sell Sagicor Europe Ltd (SEL) and its subsidiaries for £86 million.

The transaction will also include the sale of Sagicor at Lloyd’s Ltd (SAL), a wholly owned subsidiary of AmTrust Financial Services Inc, Sagicor said in a statement from its Bridgetown, Barbados, office.

SEL is a Cayman Islands-domiciled holding company, and the sale also includes a reinsurance entity and two Lloyd’s corporate members.

The move will provide cash proceeds of £86 million to Sagicor—the £56 million purchase price and release of £30 million, supported in a Letter of Credit.

“This will remove Sagicor’s exposure to the volatility of the international property and casualty insurance market,” Sagicor’s president and chief executive Dodridge Miller said.

On July 26, the company entered into an agreement with AmTrust Financial Services Inc for the sale of SEL and its subsidiaries.

The discontinued SEL operation recorded a net loss of US$41.7 million for the six-month period up June, 2013. This comprised an operating loss of US$23.6 million, foreign exchange and finance costs of US$8 million and an impairment estimate of all future losses of US$10.1 million.

“Overall, after including the results from the discontinued operation a net loss of US$22.4 million was attributable to shareholders for the current period, compared to US$11.8 million net income for the comparative period in 2012,” chairman Stephen McNamara had said in his six months’ financial report.

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