Fairfax to buy U.S. insurer Zenith National
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Fairfax Financial Holdings is buying U.S.-based workers’ compensation insurance specialist Zenith National Insurance in a deal that values Zenith at about $1.4 billion.
Toronto-based Fairfax says it will pay $38 per share for the stock in California-based Zenith it doesn’t already own.
Zenith operates the Zenith Insurance Company and ZNAT Insurance businesses nationally in the United States, primarily in the field of workers’ compensation insurance. The company will become a subsidiary of Fairfax and continue to operate from its current headquarters in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Fairfax CEO Prem Watsa says the deal reflects the financial services and insurance firm’s strategy of investing in “well-managed and well-positioned insurance companies.” The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
