AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. Announces Agreement to Acquire ARI Mutual Insurance Company

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.

(the "Company" or "AmTrust") today announced that the Company has entered into a definitive agreement, pending regulatory and policyholder approval, to acquire ARI Mutual Insurance Company ("ARI") following the completion of the conversion of ARI to a stock company from a mutual company. The Company has also entered into a quota-share reinsurance agreement with ARI as a first step in the process to complete the acquisition. The transaction is expected to close by the fall of 2015. "We are pleased to welcome and support ARI's well-established commercial insurance products and distribution into AmTrust and look forward to the completion of the pending transaction," said AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. President and CEO, Barry Zyskind. "Profitably leveraging the industry knowledge and product expertise of ARI's management supports our strategy of building shareholder value through accretive acquisitions. In addition, the agreement with ARI is another example of our continued interest in supporting mutual insurers and their capital needs." "We are excited about the opportunity to become a part of AmTrust," commented Karen S. Fulton, President and CEO of ARI. "AmTrust's "A" (Excellent) A.M Best rating and extensive geographical footprint enables ARI to expand its commercial auto insurance franchise." ARI is headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania and its history can be traced back more than a century. ARI is one of the top ten writers of commercial automobile insurance in New Jersey and has recently entered Pennsylvania and Maryland. During 2014, ARI wrote approximately $58 million in premiums. The majority of the business was written in New Jersey. Locke Lord LLP acted as AmTrust's legal advisor Griffin Financial Group, LLC acted as ARI's financial advisor and Stevens & Lee acted as ARI's legal advisor.