Sentry Insurance a Mutual Company's Purchase of Viking Insurance is Finalized

Business Wire, Nov 2, 2005

STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- Sentry Insurance a Mutual Company announced today that regulatory approvals have been received for the purchase of Viking Insurance from Royal & SunAlliance. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"This is an outstanding addition to the Sentry family. Viking and its agents have an excellent reputation for providing specialized products and services to the specialty/nonstandard auto insurance market," said Sentry Insurance Chairman Dale R. Schuh.

Sentry's acquisition of Viking makes Sentry one of the country's largest providers of auto insurance for drivers who find auto insurance difficult to afford or maintain.

The acquisition brings the following to the Sentry Insurance Group:

--650 employees

--Offices in Madison, WI, Freeport, IL, Englewood, CO, Salem, OR, Irvine, CA and Goldsboro, NC

--More than 7,900 professional independent agencies

--More than $425 million in premium

--Two new states - California and North Carolina -- for Sentry's Consumer Products insurance division

Viking was founded in 1971 in Madison, WI and sells policies in 27 states. "We intend to build upon the geographic diversification and strong service and systems capabilities that Viking provides its agents and customers," said Mr. Schuh.

Sentry is a major domestic mutual insurance group, with assets of more than $8.5 billion and policyholders' surplus of $2.4 billion. Sentry and its subsidiaries offer a full line of property and casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement programs, employee benefits and related services to businesses and consumers throughout the U.S.

Legal entities included in the purchase are Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin, Viking County Mutual Insurance Company, and Peak Property and Casualty Insurance Corporation. Sentry's other specialty/nonstandard auto insurance subsidiaries are Dairyland Insurance, Dairyland County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas and Patriot General Insurance Company.