Acquisition adds mortgage risk offerings for insurance group

An international insurance services provider is closing 2024 with an acquisition bolstering its mortgage credit risk offerings.

New York-based Amynta Group announced plans to purchase the credit division of Crum & Forster. The latter company is a subsidiary of Fairfax Holdings and headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey. 

The newly acquired C&F business offers a line of structured credit insurance solutions and services and accelerates Amynta's growth in the channel. With a client base of financial institutions and mortgage insurers and reinsurers, its offerings include loan- and alternative-credit risk products. 

"The acquisition of the C&F credit division provides entry to a new specialty class of business with a team that has built a strong underwriting track record, building on our partnership with C&F" said Amynta Risk Solutions CEO John Doucette, in a press release.

The unit will operate under the Amynta Risk Solutions brand as a full-service managing general underwriter. Daniel Sussman, who served as president of the division at C&F, will continue to lead the business. 

"Amynta is the perfect owner to take the business forward and allow them to realize the full growth ambitions of the business," added Crum & Forster Chair and CEO Marc Adee. "We have a strong and growing relationship with Amynta and look forward to our partnership with this business."

Under C&F, the business platform offered a product designed to serve both U.S. and selected international housing markets called Mortgage Risk. The product aimed to protect mortgage loan portfolios from financial losses associated with borrower distress.  

Other types of specialty insurance part of Sussman's C&F division included coverage for significant risk transfer specifically marketed to banks, as well as single-situation credit, or "failure to pay" insurance. Insurance addressing overseas political and "alternative" risks were also available. 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

With products across a wide range of channels available for both businesses and consumers, Amynta Group manages more than $3.5 billion in premiums across North America, Europe and Australia. Some of the company's subsidiaries include Builders & Tradesmen's Insurance Services, home warranties provider TMI Solutions and Oryx, which serves the construction industry.

For the home finance community and the companies that serve them, the deal closes out what turned out to be a more subdued year for mergers and acquisitions than the previous two, as many companies saw profits return. Within the insurance space, the industry saw real estate services provider SitusAMC sell a majority stake of its Securent Risk Retention Group in the fourth quarter. 

Economic pressures and the volatility they bring may provide some M&A opportunities over the next few months within the mortgage industry should uncertainty persist. Close to one-third of lenders still found themselves in the red toward the end of 2024, and they could face difficult business decisions from counterparties next year if finances fail to improve quickly, according to Stratmor Group senior partner Garth Graham.