XML 29 R8.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v2.3.0.15

Significant Transactions | 9 Months Ended
--- | ---
Sep. 30, 2011
Significant Transactions |
Significant Transactions |
Note 2. Significant Transactions Sale of Esurance On October 7, 2011, White Mountains completed its sale of Esurance Insurance and AFI to The Allstate Corporation (see Note 15). Self Tender Offer On September 21, 2011, White Mountains completed a “modified Dutch auction” self-tender offer whereby White Mountains repurchased 327,872 of its common shares at $415 per share. The total cost of the tender offer was $136.5 million, including $0.4 million of fees and expenses. Sale of AutoOne On August 30, 2011, OneBeacon entered into a definitive agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) to sell the AutoOne business to Interboro Holdings, Inc. (“Interboro”). OneBeacon formed AutoOne in 2001 to provide products and services to automobile assigned risk markets primarily in New York and New Jersey. OneBeacon will transfer to the buyer AutoOne Insurance Company (“AOIC”) and AutoOne Select Insurance Company (“AOSIC”), which will contain the assets, liabilities (including loss reserves and unearned premiums), and the equity capital of the business, and will transfer substantially all of the AutoOne infrastructure including staff, systems and office space. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011, subject to regulatory approvals. As a result of entering into the Purchase Agreement, AutoOne is now reported as discontinued operations. See Note 14. During the three months ended September 30, 2011, OneBeacon recorded an after-tax charge of $18.2 million reflecting the estimated loss on sale of the AutoOne business. OneBeacon Personal Lines Sale In July 2010, OneBeacon completed the sale of its traditional personal lines business (the “Personal Lines Transaction”) to Tower Group, Inc. (“Tower”) for consideration of $166.6 million. The Personal Lines Transaction included two insurance companies, York Insurance Company of Maine (“York”) and Massachusetts Homeland Insurance Company (“MHIC”), through which the majority of the traditional personal lines business was written on a direct basis. Subsequent to the transaction, OneBeacon cedes to Tower, on a 100% quota share basis, traditional personal lines business not directly written by York and MHIC; and OneBeacon assumes, on a 100% quota share basis, non-traditional personal lines business written directly by York. The Personal Lines Transaction also included two attorneys-in-fact managing the reciprocal insurance exchanges (“reciprocals”) that wrote the traditional personal lines business in New York and New Jersey, the surplus notes issued by the New York and New Jersey reciprocals, and the remaining renewal rights to certain other traditional personal lines insurance policies. The sale of the two attorneys-in-fact and the transfer of the surplus notes triggered deconsolidation of the reciprocals by White Mountains. OneBeacon and Tower also entered into a Transition Services Agreement (“TSA”), pursuant to which OneBeacon provides certain services to Tower during a three-year term. Acquisition of Central National On February 26, 2010, Sirius Group acquired Central National for $5 million in cash. Central National ceased writing business in 1989 and was operated under the control of the Nebraska Department of Insurance since 1990. The transaction resulted in a gain of $12.8 million recorded in other revenues.

X
- Details
Name: | wtm_SignificantTransactionsDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | wtm
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Description of various transactions that are significant to White Mountains financial position, results of operations and/or cash flows. + Details
Name: | wtm_SignificantTransactionsTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | wtm
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration