Kingsway enters U.S. alliance and announces public offering

Specialty risk insurer Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSE: KFS) has entered into an "alliance" with Texas-based auto insurer Reliant American Group Inc. "We see a lot of potential for the distribution of Reliant American’s commercial auto, garage liability and general liability products through our licensing and underwriting capabilities, with Reliant American assuming some of the underwriting risk. We continue to look at forming strategic alliances with strong partners like Reliant American, to strengthen our U.S. presence and add new lines to our product offerings," says Kingsway president Bill Star.Kingsway also announced today that it has filed a preliminary prospectus with the Canadian and U.S. securities authorities with the intent of making a public offering of 10 million common shares of the company’s stock. A further 1.5 million common shares have also been allocated in the event of "over allotments". Kingsway has also applied for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Security managing underwriters Banc of America Securities LLC and HSBC Securities, together with a syndicate to be formed, have been appointed to handle the public offering.