NEW YORK, July 18 2007 – Zurich, one of the world’s largest property-casualty insurance companies, announced today that it has created a new Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) unit that will offer customized products and services to help companies manage M&A transaction-related risks. The unit, part of Zurich’s Global Corporate business division, is fully operational in the U.S. and will have worldwide capabilities with offices in London and Zurich by the fourth quarter of 2007.
“With the creation of the unit, Zurich is the only insurer to offer a fully integrated and solely dedicated team of professionals with experience in a full range of insurance products and all aspects of the M&A process,” said Mario Vitale, CEO, Zurich Global Corporate in North America.
“Zurich’s M&A unit offers a customized approach to meet the unique needs of, and add value to, each M&A transaction,” said Vitale. “The total value of M&A deals in 2006 reached an all-time high of approximately USD 4 trillion and, compared with last year, is up more than 25 percent to USD 3.1 trillion year to date. With M&A activity likely to continue at a rapid pace this year and beyond, Zurich is committed to capturing a significant share of the insurance activity related to this important market.”
As previously announced, Thomas L. Gamble is president of the new unit. Gamble serves as the M&A unit’s global leader and is based in New York City, reporting to Vitale.
Gamble added, “Zurich has an extensive product portfolio, including property, environmental liability, casualty – including deductible and loss portfolio transfer, directors & officers (D&O), errors & omissions (E&O), and other insurance and financial services solutions to meet the wide range of potential risks associated with M&A activity. This, combined with our available underwriting capacity and large global presence, uniquely positions Zurich to meet the needs of this demanding market segment.”
Zurich announced the following additions to its M&A unit:
- Alex Maza, senior vice president, will oversee all professional liability lines. He started his career at American International Group (AIG) working in the environmental division. Since 1999, Maza has worked at Zurich in North America in its professional liability division. He held several positions during his tenure at Zurich, most recently serving as regional vice president running the Northeast Region for the Management Solutions Group that focuses on providing risk management solutions (D&O, employment practices, fidelity, fiduciary and E&O) for customers ranging from Fortune 100 clients to small, private organizations. Maza holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Binghamton University and an MBA from Pace University.
- Anton Kachykalo, senior vice president, is responsible for all casualty lines. He started with Zurich in 1991 as a senior casualty underwriter and was promoted to account manager in 1993. Prior to joining Zurich, Kachykalo was a senior underwriter at AIG. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Long Island University – C.W. Post Campus.
- Joe Valenza, senior vice president, is responsible for environmental lines of business. Valenza has 15 years of risk management experience. Prior to joining Zurich, Valenza focused on personal and commercial lines at Deloitte Consulting. At Kemper Casualty, he directed the programs and associations profit center and the division’s Northeast territory. Valenza has a master’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
- Edward Leibrock, senior vice president, is responsible for all property lines. Before he joined Zurich, Leibrock was responsible for underwriting ACE’s regional property insurance accounts. He also was managing director at Travelers, where he oversaw new business opportunities. Leibrock received a Bachelor of Science degree from Fairfield University.
- Kathleen Ziegler, chief operating officer for the unit, is responsible for driving business performance, enhancing the operational infrastructure, and ensuring underwriting and marketing alignment with the Zurich North America Commercial business division and other Global Corporate units. She joined Zurich in 2003 and served in a number of positions. Most recently, she supported Zurich CEO James J. Schiro in reviewing and analyzing business and organizational issues. Ziegler has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree from the University of Kansas. She also completed an advanced management program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
- John Walsh, assistant vice president, is responsible for generating new business leads from private equity and investment contacts. Prior to joining Zurich, Walsh served as an insurance broker with Marsh & McLennan’s private equity mergers & acquisitions group. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.
- Andrew Graves, assistant vice president, is also responsible for generating new business leads from private equity and investment contacts. Prior to joining Zurich, Graves was an associate with Siguler Guff & Company. He previously served as a financial analyst with the Financial Restructuring Group at Houlihan Lokey. Graves holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy at Wake Forest University.
- Jude DiBattista, senior underwriter, will be responsible for analyzing and underwriting multistate primary casualty programs including workers’ compensation, general liability and automobile liability. He is rejoining Zurich, having most recently served as the New York regional manager at Crum&Forster. He previously worked at AIG in various claims organization positions and at AIG Risk Management as an underwriter. DiBattista graduated from Iona College with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.
About Zurich Financial Services
Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) is an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in North America and Europe as well as in Asia Pacific, Latin America and other markets. Founded in 1872, the Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. It employs approximately 55,000 people serving customers in more than 150 countries. In North America, Zurich (www.zurichna.com) is a leading commercial property-casualty insurance provider serving the global corporate, large corporate, middle market, small business, specialties and programs sectors.
About Zurich’s Global Corporate business division
Zurich’s Global Corporate (GC) business division offers risk management services to corporations at a national and international level, including risk transfer and risk finance solutions. With a global network of professionals in over 140 countries, GC provides companies with total risk management strategies and standards that ensure all our customers have access to the same high-quality service. GC insures many of Fortune’s Global 100 companies and is the largest corporate business insurer in Europe and the number two corporate insurer in the U.S. www.zurich.com.
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