Hancock Holding (HBHC) in Gulfport, Miss., has agreed to sell its property and casualty and group benefits lines of business to AssuredPartners in Lake Mary, Fla.
The $19 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that it has established a referral program with AssuredPartners for the services it will divest. Hancock said it expects to complete the sale on Friday; it did not disclose a price.
Hancock said the divested business lines represent about half of its 2013 insurance revenue, though the sale is not expected to have a material impact on future net operating results. Hancock said it will keep its life and title insurance lines of business.
"The divestiture of these insurance lines supports our ongoing efforts to align our organizational structure with key opportunities, while building value for shareholders, clients, and associates," Carl Chaney, Hancock's co-CEO and president, said in the release.
"In our strategic review of all business lines across the organization, we determined that exiting these specific insurance business lines would allow us to both reinvest and refocus our efforts on potentially higher-return, revenue-generating initiatives," Chaney added. "While this transaction is not part of our ongoing expense reduction initiative, it allows the company to focus on core banking and wealth management segments designed to achieve future efficiency goals."
