FORT LAUDERDALE – Nov. 12, 2018 – A team of Greenberg Traurig, P.A. attorneys led by Fort Lauderdale Shareholder Fred E. Karlinsky represented The Main Street America Group in its merger with American Family Insurance group. The transaction, which closed on Oct. 31, 2018, required no capital outlay from either company. The combined companies’ equity after the merger is about $9 billion.
The Main Street America Group will now operate as a stand-alone brand within American Family Insurance group.
The deal, which was announced on May 3, 2018, required the Greenberg Traurig team representing Jacksonville, Florida-based The Main Street America Group to work with the company to obtain regulatory approval in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, and South Carolina, as well as in Wisconsin, where American Family Insurance has its headquarters in Madison. Public hearings on the matter were held in Florida, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
The companies’ merger, considered to be a large and relatively complex transaction, also required that the attorney team work with Main Street America to obtain the approval of their mutual policyholder-members.
“We were very pleased to be able to assist The Main Street America Group with a merger that brings more product choices and further value to their policyholders,” said Karlinsky, who is co-chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Insurance Regulatory & Transactions Practice. “Both companies’ long-term growth will be enhanced by the transaction.”
Additional attorneys on the team were Shareholders Gregory R. Daddario, Richard J. Fidei, Stanley G. Jacobs, Jr., and Noam Lipshitz; Practice Group Attorney Jamey Zellner; and Of Counsel Attorney John F. Prusiecki.
American Family Insurance is the nation’s thirteenth-largest property/casualty insurance group and sells auto, homeowners, life, business and farm/ranch insurance, primarily through its agents in 19 states. The Main Street America Group, which began in 1923 as National Grange Mutual Insurance Company, currently writes property/casualty business through eight carriers. With more than $1.2 billion in premium written by 3,000 independent insurance agents, the company underwrites over 600,000 property/casualty policies in 37 states, as well as 50,000 bonds in 47 states and the District of Columbia.
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