Allianz sells US mid-size corporate insurance unit to Arch Capital

BERLIN (Reuters) -Allianz agreed to sell Fireman's Fund, its U.S. insurance unit for mid-sized corporations and entertainment industry clients, to Bermuda-based Arch Insurance for $450 million in cash, the German insurer said on Friday.

Arch Capital had to assume $2 billion in loss provisions, from which the Munich-based group expects to gradually release around $1 billion, bringing the deal's total value to $1.4 billion, Allianz added.

The 500-person unit accounted for around a third of the 2023 premium volume of the U.S. corporate insurance division Allianz Commercial of $5.3 billion.

The transaction is part of Allianz's new strategy to focus on large corporate and specialty businesses in the U.S. instead.

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner, writing by Andrey Sychev; editing by Matthias Williams and Richard Chang)