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To: Chartgod who wrote (1720)	12/13/1999 1:23:00 PM
From: Joseph Strohsahl	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1770

Here's a good one Jim. Sounds like a buyout real soon: REL ragingbull.com finance.yahoo.com If this is true....6 7/8 will be left in the dust Travelers, St Paul likely Reliance buyers-sources NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Travelers Property Casualty Corp. (NYSE:TAP - news), St. Paul Cos. (NYSE:SPC - news) and one other unnamed insurance company are the most likely buyers of troubled U.S. insurer Reliance Group Holdings Inc., sources familiar with the situation said on Friday. It is believed the three companies have met with bankers Bear Stearns and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, which Reliance hired last month as strategic advisers, to discuss a possible deal. Sources said they expected a sale of the property casualty insurer Reliance -- or a large third-party investment -- to be announced before the end of the first quarter of 2000 in order to avoid a rating downgrade on concerns about the company's debt and exposure to uncollectible reinsurance. Spokesmen from Travelers and St. Paul said on Friday neither would comment on merger rumors or speculation, and would not confirm that either company had made contact with Reliance's advisers. A spokesman for Reliance declined to comment on the matter. The New York-based property casualty insurer, which has about $3.2 billion in annual revenues, underwrites mostly commercial, rather than personal, insurance, and has substantial surety, international and reinsurance units. It has reported net losses of $187 million so far this year and must repay or restructure $500 million of debt next year. The company has also estimated that it will have to pay about $98 million to settle reinsurance disputes from its involvement in the Unicover workers compensation insurance pool. Travelers, 83 percent owned by Citigroup (NYSE:C - news), has been seen as the leading consolidator in the U.S. property casualty insurance market, and is expected by analysts to make acquisitions now financial services reform has removed uncertainty over its ownership by banking concern Citigroup. St. Paul, which sold its personal lines insurance operations this year to refocus on business and international insurance, has said that it is actively looking for acquisitions in the United States and overseas. Late last month Robert Miller, Reliance's newly appointed president, said an outright sale of Reliance was a possibility, but said he did not expect an acceptable offer in the near future given Reliance's low share price. Reliance shares have collapsed over the past 18 months, hitting an all-time low of 2-7/8 in mid-November after trading as high as $19 last July. Reliance's shares have rallied since its appointment of strategic advisers, closing at 5-13/16 on Friday. An acquisition offer at that price would value the whole company at only about $570 million, but analysts say chief executive Saul Steinberg, whose family owns 43 percent of Reliance, may be unwilling to sell the company -- with annual premiums of $2.4 billion -- for less than $20 a share, which would value the whole company at about $2.3 billion.