Back to top

Image: Bigstock

White Mountains' 50% Stake in DavidShield to Brace Portfolio

Read MoreHide Full Article

White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (WTM - Free Report) recently announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 50% stake in DavidShield. However, the transaction’s financial details remain under wraps.

Co-venturer of Passport Card, DavidShield is a leading provider of expatriate medical and other accident and health insurance coverage. The company provides insurance services to individuals and corporations in Israel. Its proprietary technology and delivery systems enables clients to access healthcare coverage across the globe, without shelling out any expenses from their pockets or submitting a claims form. In fact, the company’s proprietary technology solutions are utilized by leading health providers worldwide for both international and domestic products.

UK-based PassportCard is the travel industry’s first real-time, paperless insurance, facilitating instant claim payouts as per customers’ needs and preferences. The company has served over two million customers since inception in 2012. White Mountains own about 50% of PassportCard.
    
Following the closure of the deal, White Mountains and Alon Ketzef — the founder of both DavidShield and PassportCard — will be equal partners in both businesses.

White Mountains undertakes both organic and inorganic initiatives to ramp its growth profile. Strategic buyouts and investments not only widen the company’s geographical footprints but also diversify and add capabilities to its portfolio of services.

White Mountains aims to transform the worldwide travel and expatriate medical insurance experience via innovations in technology and service. The company thus intends to gain a premier spot in accident and health insurance market banking on the successful relationship it had with DavidShield and leveraging DavidShield’s expertise.

Zacks Rank and Share Price Movement

White Mountains carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have substantially underperformed the industry year to date. While the stock has gained 3.0%, the industry has rallied 14.2%. However, the company’s strategic plans to boost operational performance are expected to drive the stock higher. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Insurers Pursuing Inorganic Path

Time and again, companies have resorted to mergers and acquisition activities to add capabilities to their portfolio. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG - Free Report) has recently bought Premier Insurance, LLC, doing business as Lutgert Insurance to strengthen presence in Southwest Florida. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (AXS - Free Report) has acquired Novae Group plc’s shares at a price of 715 pence per share to ramp up Llyods’ presence. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (FNF - Free Report) has announced that its FNF Group has recently taken over a majority stake in SkySlope, Inc. to provide quality services to real estate agents and brokers.

4 Stocks to Watch after the Massive Equifax Hack

Cybersecurity stocks spiked on recent news of a data breach affecting 143 million Americans. But which stocks are the best buy candidates right now? And what does the future hold for the cybersecurity industry?

Equifax is just the most recent victim. Computer hacking and identity theft are more common than ever. Zacks has just released Cybersecurity! An Investor’s Guide to inform Zacks.com readers about this $170 billion/year space. More importantly, it highlights 4 cybersecurity picks with strong profit potential.

Get the new Investing Guide now>>

Published in