Symetra Financial, Bellevue, Wash., has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Medical Risk Managers, Inc. (MRM) of South Windsor, Conn. The deal is expected to close by the end of second quarter 2007 and be accretive to earnings during the first twelve months. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Symetra provides employee benefits, retirement plans, annuities and life insurance, and is an industry leader in medical stop loss coverage designed for employers that self-insure their group health plans. Stop loss helps employers protect self-funded health care plans against large potentially catastrophic claims, which reduces their overall risk exposure.
MRM is a full-service managing general underwriter and health care network consulting firm specializing in the stop loss market. MRM will remain in South Windsor and manage staff and operations independently as a wholly owned subsidiary of Symetra Financial Corporation. In addition, Mike McLean, chief executive officer of MRM, will continue to lead the company, which will underwrite self-funded business for multiple partners in
addition to Symetra.
Symetra's acquisition of MRM will strengthen its diverse stop loss portfolio and increase penetration in the employee benefits market.
"Bringing MRM on board further enhances Symetra's presence in the medical stop loss insurance marketplace," said Randy Talbot, president and chief executive officer of Symetra. "Some 30 years ago, our company was one of the pioneers of group stop loss coverage and Symetra remains at the forefront of this important industry today."
