Parsad Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Bought through Crum & Forster. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fairfax-acquire-pet-insurance-provider-214950744.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-bone1 Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Specialty insurance indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berkshiremystery Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 This seems to me some odd little baby puppy acquisition :o $15.5M market cap 63 employees Hartville Group, Inc. http://www.hartvillegroup.com/ Hartville Group, Inc. (HVLL) @ Yahoo! Finance http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=HVLL http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/advchart/frames/frames.asp?symb=Hvll&insttype=&time=&freq= Hartville Group, Inc. (HVLL) @ EDGAR database http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001126960&owner=include&count=40&hidefilings=0 There are no SEC filings available since early 2009, because they filed some termination of registration request with the SEC. (Approximate number of holders of record as of the certification or notice date: 163) http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1126960/000095015208010804/l34985ae15v12g.htm http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1126960/000095015208010804/l34985ae15v12g.htm ---- EDIT: Seems some really unnoticed odd cigar butt,... there is almost no liquidity in the share trading. Last year they traded as low as 5 cents on Dec. 12th, 2012, with only 400 shares changing hands. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=HVLL&d=4&e=16&f=2013&g=d&a=6&b=16&c=2003&z=66&y=66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obtuse_investor Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Hartville's press release reveals more, like the sale price: Leading Pet Insurance Provider Hartville Group Announces Acquisition by Fairfax Financial (prnews) CANTON, Ohio, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hartville Group, Inc., one of the oldest and largest pet insurance providers in the US, has announced that it has signed a merger agreement with Crum & Forster's United States Fire Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (TSX: FFH and FFH.U). The agreement is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2013. Headquartered in Canton, Ohio, Hartville provides pet insurance plans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia under several brand names, including Hartville Pet Insurance and the Petshealth Care Plan. Hartville also is the only strategic partner for pet insurance with The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®). As part of this long-standing relationship, Hartville provides and administers plans under the ASPCA Pet Health Insurance name. The ASPCA Pet Health Insurance brand is one of the most popular pet insurance programs in the US. Crum & Forster, through its Fairmont Specialty and United States Fire Insurance companies, has underwritten Hartville's pet insurance plans since October 2006. No changes in existing policyholders' coverage will occur due to the completion of the agreement, and plans will continue to be underwritten by the United States Fire Insurance Company. "Hartville has worked very closely with Fairmont Specialty since 2006 to provide high-quality pet insurance coverage at a good value for consumers," said Hartville CEO Dennis Rushovich. "Our existing partnership will help make this ownership transition completely seamless for our customers. It also is important to us that we've found in Fairfax a partner who shares our values." "We are very excited to have Hartville join the Fairfax group," said Prem Watsa, Chairman and CEO of Fairfax. "This acquisition represents a new phase in our existing relationship with Hartville through Fairmont Specialty. As a result of the vertical integration created by this merger, Hartville's pet insurance programs will be uniquely positioned in the industry to generate sustainable growth." Hartville's pet insurance plans offer affordable coverage options with proven value for customers. Dogs and cats throughout the US can be covered for accidents, illnesses, wellness care, hereditary and congenital conditions, alternative therapies and behavioral conditions. Hartville's operations will remain in Canton, Ohio. Stockholders of Hartville, representing more than 80% of the outstanding shares of common stock, have approved the agreement by written consent and, therefore, no further action or approval by our stockholders is required. Hartville will provide an information statement to all of its stockholders setting forth the detailed information on the merger agreement and notifying the stockholders of their dissenter's rights. Closing of the transaction is subject to various closing conditions contained in the agreement. At closing, which is anticipated to be in the third quarter of 2013, Hartville stockholders of record on May 15 shall receive in the range of $2.35 to $2.40 for each of their shares upon presentation of their share certificates. Hartville's paying agent will forward transmittal correspondence to each stockholder shortly after closing. About Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited Fairfax is a financial services holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management. About The Hartville Group The Hartville Group, Inc. is the parent company of Petsmarketing Insurance.com Agency, Inc. (individually and collectively referred to as Hartville Group). Based in Canton, Ohio, the Hartville Group was founded in 1997 and is one of the largest providers of pet health insurance in the US, offering pet insurance through the subsidiary agency under the brand names ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, Hartville Pet Insurance and Petshealth Care Plan. As part of its strategic partnership with the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) Hartville Group provides ASPCA Pet Health Insurance. The subsidiary agency is authorized to provide property and casualty insurance in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. For more information about the Hartville Group, visit www.hartvillegroup.com. For more information about ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, visit www.aspcapetinsurance.com. Follow ASPCA Pet Health Insurance at www.facebook.com/ASPCAPetInsurance and @ASPCAPetIns. Media Contact: Hartville Group Inc. Lisa Hockensmith 330-484-9746 Cell: 330-309-2233 lisa.h@hartvillegroup.com SOURCE Hartville Group, Inc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoCitiesCapital Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Hmmmm. Any idea what the room for growth is in the U.S. or globally? Seems hard to imagine this ever contributing in a meaningful way. I mean, if they're one of the oldest and operate in all states and still only maintain a market cap of $15 M it seems like growth is very very limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alekbaylee Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Might lure some pet owners into other segments of insurance (personal lines) or the other way round. Would be interesting to know how many customers Hartville has. Usually people that buy insurance for their pets are well off too. Some interesting data : http://www.embracepetinsurance.com/pet-industry/pet-insurance/statistics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StubbleJumper Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I love it. People who are normally well-balanced and intelligent become complete irrational fools when it comes to their family pet and spend inordinate amounts of money on vet services, grooming, food and toys. If C&F can find some way of convincing these excessively emotional people this price-insensitive market segment that they very badly need pet insurance, there could be very good profits... SJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elltel Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Interesting... "Crum & Forster, through its Fairmont Specialty and United States Fire Insurance companies, has underwritten Hartville's pet insurance plans since October 2006. No changes in existing policyholders' coverage will occur due to the completion of the agreement, and plans will continue to be underwritten by the United States Fire Insurance Company." I wonder what other companies out there already use Fairfax for their underwriting "and" could be taken over.... Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berkshiremystery Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I love it. People who are normally well-balanced and intelligent become complete irrational fools when it comes to their family pet and spend inordinate amounts of money on vet services, grooming, food and toys. If C&F can find some way of convincing these excessively emotional people this price-insensitive market segment that they very badly need pet insurance, there could be very good profits... SJ You made my day... LOL +1. ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddballstocks Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Nice, I owned 1 share of Hartville in an attempt to get information on the company. I see my share is up 87% today, it's a shame I didn't get the financials in time to create a position out of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berkshiremystery Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Nice, I owned 1 share of Hartville in an attempt to get information on the company. I see my share is up 87% today, it's a shame I didn't get the financials in time to create a position out of this. ;D ;D ;D LOL,... And your 1 share trade did almost double the market cap,... now around $28.97M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball82 Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Interesting... "Crum & Forster, through its Fairmont Specialty and United States Fire Insurance companies, has underwritten Hartville's pet insurance plans since October 2006. No changes in existing policyholders' coverage will occur due to the completion of the agreement, and plans will continue to be underwritten by the United States Fire Insurance Company." I wonder what other companies out there already use Fairfax for their underwriting "and" could be taken over.... Just a thought. Yes and the company with the greatest potential in the field of pet insurance is located in the Toronto area. A small cap + / - $ 40 million. I can not wait to see if it will be the subject of a bid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcliu Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 PetHealth Inc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obtuse_investor Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 PetHealth Inc PetHealth is quite tightly connected with Northbridge and consequently Fairfax. From their Annual Report: In Canada, the Company operates its pet insurance business under an Managing General Agency Agreement (“MGA Agreement”) with Northbridge General Insurance Corporation (“Northbridge”), a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. The Company earns a base commission of 35% on those policies underwritten by Northbridge... The Company does not, however, participate in any underwriting results for policies placed in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcliu Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Shares have been up 90% YTD. Is this a sign? Company seems to have ratified a new shareholders' rights plan lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball82 Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Shares have been up 90% YTD. Is this a sign? Company seems to have ratified a new shareholders' rights plan lately. hmm is more likely to be bought more than $ 2.25 because the price is so cheap compared to assets ! However, PTZ has more potential in the medium term. It is more than an insurance broker for pets .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obtuse_investor Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Shares have been up 90% YTD. Is this a sign? Company seems to have ratified a new shareholders' rights plan lately. hmm is more likely to be bought more than $ 2.25 because the price is so cheap compared to assets ! However, PTZ has more potential in the medium term. It is more than an insurance broker for pets .... Be careful. Tangible book is $8.6M, compared to book value of 20.47M. They have preferred shares outstanding that can be converted by the company at 2.15/shr. That is a $12.2M liability that doesn't show up on their balance sheet. As far as I can tell, those are perpetual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball82 Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Good point but note "the secret is the earning power" : 1) Return on equity over 20% without long-term debt 2) " With respect to cash flow and earnings, it is important to remember that owing to changes in accounting guidance whereby we now expense the cost of acquiring a policy in the quarter it occurs (despite the fact that the life of that policy will average 3.5 – 4 years), cash flow will dip during periods of accelerated policy growth and increase significantly in periods where the rate of policy growth declines and/or paid policies in force decline." 3) The company is moving from one business model "INSURANCE and other profits of supplements "to" PET PHARMACY AND SPECIALTY RETAIL - BUSINESS TOCONSUMER "+ INSURANCE + other ... What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkbabang Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 A dangerous market to be in, because it is ripe for nationalization. The currently accepted theory is that people have a right to free healthcare and most pet owners I know think that pets are people too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball82 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 "Shares have been up 90% YTD. Is this a sign? Company seems to have ratified a new shareholders' rights plan lately." Moreover, this company is growing more the purchase price will be high http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pethealth-inc-announces-total-animals-123000747.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball82 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 PetHealth Inc PetHealth is quite tightly connected with Northbridge and consequently Fairfax. From their Annual Report: In Canada, the Company operates its pet insurance business under an Managing General Agency Agreement (“MGA Agreement”) with Northbridge General Insurance Corporation (“Northbridge”), a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. The Company earns a base commission of 35% on those policies underwritten by Northbridge... The Company does not, however, participate in any underwriting results for policies placed in Canada. PTZ could be a great friendly acquisition target for FFH See futurs catalysts: 1) New complete software for sale to shelters to become a virtual "veterian clinic" until next mai. Additional potential sales from 2000 animals welfare organisations. 2) Great expansion about Pet pharmacy and speciality retails - B to Business pharmacy products with Petango.com (+ 54 % growth last quarter). More distribution agreement to come (Perrigo, PRGO-NYSE ?) covering antiparasitics, antibiotics, medications and diagnostic tests. I like this part of the business. During the last conference call, Mark Warren, president and CEO did a comparaison about the Best Friends pets website and Amazon partnership. They have had a partnership for about 2 years now. The point was if amazon thought they could get to the adopter demographic directly then why do a deal with Best Friends. So PTZ approach which is to while label retail stores for hundreds of PetPoint licensed shelters must be an even better way. 3) PTZ is looking to buy a company under 10 M$. In my opinion, PTZ could be a target too ! This company lead the Pet space in microchip, insurance, database, retail to shelters, online commerce... I think within a year we will see the terrific strength of this business model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball82 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Great results for Pethealth, the best part of the story is 76% increase from business-to-business and business-to-consumer sales through the PetangoStore.com ! Pet retail store online potential is undervaluated...so listen today conference call to know the tremendous potential http://www.pethealthinc.com/ Pethealth Inc. announces record quarterly revenue of $11,042,000; quarterly profit of $511,000 and its full results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2013. http://www.pethealth...FINAL_SEDAR.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no_free_lunch Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 It is certainly cheap if the growth can be maintained. Any thoughts on the ultimate market size, e.g. how long can they grow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball82 Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Online pet retail pharmacy market is fantastic. It's not comparable but see Petsmart. The market is there, PTZ has to execute. Do you know a better business model in this sector ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball82 Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Interesting... "Crum & Forster, through its Fairmont Specialty and United States Fire Insurance companies, has underwritten Hartville's pet insurance plans since October 2006. No changes in existing policyholders' coverage will occur due to the completion of the agreement, and plans will continue to be underwritten by the United States Fire Insurance Company." I wonder what other companies out there already use Fairfax for their underwriting "and" could be taken over.... Just a thought. Yes and the company with the greatest potential in the field of pet insurance is located in the Toronto area. A small cap + / - $ 40 million. I can not wait to see if it will be the subject of a bid. Congrats we were right, Prem Watsa liked the advice lol Fairfax bought Pethealth at 2.79 today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now