White Mountains’s Sale of Esurance and Answer Financial Businesses to Allstate

On May 18, 2011, White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Esurance and Answer Financial businesses to The Allstate Corporation for an amount in cash equal to $700 million plus the tangible book value at closing of the entities being sold. Cravath represented White Mountains Insurance Group in connection with this transaction. Esurance sells personal auto insurance directly to customers on-line and through call centers. Answer Financial is one of the largest independent personal insurance agencies in the United States.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the fall of 2011, is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.

The Cravath team included partners Philip A. Gelston and Erik R. Tavzel, practice area attorney Peter A. Emmi and associates Donald Scott Bennett, Robert Earl Benson Jr. and Meaghan S. Nelson on corporate matters; partner Stephen L. Gordon and associate Christopher K. Fargo on tax matters; and partner Eric W. Hilfers, practice area attorney Michael Krasnovsky and associate Brian J. Cathey on executive compensation and benefits matters. Antje Hagena also worked on tax matters.