Informa Insurance News 24
BERKSHIRE AND WHITE MOUNTAINS TAKE SOME GAINS FROM SYMETRA INVESTMENT
Original stockholders in Washington state-based Symetra, the life unit carved out of Safeco in 2004 when it was bought for
$1.41bn by a consortium led by
Berkshire Hathaway and
White Mountains, will raise $750m through the sale of stock as part of an initial public offering. Berkshire and
White Mountains each owned a 24% stake in Symetra as of June 1. Symetra had premium revenue of $525.7m last year. The filing did not specify
how much of their holdings the various stakeholders would sell, although it did said that Berkshire and
White Mountains would continue to have the ability, collectively, “to significantly influence all matters requiring stockholder approval”.