QBE to Buy PMI Asia, Australia for A$1.03 Billion

Bloomberg (08/14/08); Kelly, Stuart; Fenner, Robert
After recording a fourth straight quarterly loss, U.S. mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. said it will sell its Asian and Australian operations to QBE Insurance Group Ltd. for US$896 million. Australia's largest casualty insurer has agreed to pay California-based PMI, the second-biggest U.S. mortgage insurance firm, 80 percent in cash with the remaining 20 percent comprised of a promissory note payable in three years. PMI is in the process of withdrawing from overseas markets to place more emphasis on its U.S. business, shutting down its Canadian unit entirely and closing sales offices throughout Europe. Mortgage insurers such as PMI have endured all-time record losses and have seen their ratings cut amid the worst U.S. housing slump in 70-plus years.