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Antitrust Review Delays Verisk’s Purchase of EagleView

September 29, 2014

Verisk Analytics Inc., the supplier of data to insurers and banks, said its planned $650 million takeover of EagleView Technology Corp. has been delayed amid a review by antitrust regulators.

The purchase agreement has been extended to Dec. 31, after a previous plan to complete the deal by Sept. 30, Jersey City, New Jersey-based Verisk said Monday in a statement. The company said it will provide further details on an Oct. 29 conference call to discuss third-quarter results.

The companies are working with the Federal Trade Commission to win approval for a transaction “on appropriate terms that reflect the interests of Verisk and EagleView shareholders,” according to the statement.

Verisk announced in January that it agreed to buy EagleView to add an image library that encompasses about 90 percent of U.S. structures, bolstering its underwriting software and offerings to insurance and government customers. The company said at the time that it expected the cash transaction to be completed by July 15.

“We continue to believe that aerial imagery is important to our insurance customers and their ability to provide more cost-effective solutions for consumers,” Verisk Chief Executive Officer Scott Stephenson said in Monday’s statement. “We’re hopeful we can find a satisfactory conclusion to our process to acquire EagleView.”

Cheryl Warner, a spokeswoman for the FTC, declined to comment.

Verisk slipped 41 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $60.93 at 4 p.m. in New York trading. The company has dropped 7.3 percent this year, compared with the 6.8 percent gain of the Russell 1000 Index.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2014/09/29/341933.htm