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W. R. Berkley Corporation announced that London-based insurer Kiln plc has agreed to invest in W. R. Berkley Insurance (Europe), Limited, a newly incorporated U.K. insurance company.

Berkley will have an 80 percent stake and Kiln 20 percent in the new company, which will have initial capital of £80 million ($133.2 million).

Berkey Europe, whose formation was first announced last March, will “provide specialty casualty insurance in the London market, initially focusing on professional indemnity insurance,” said the announcement. It’s expected to commence operations in the third quarter of 2003, subject to, among other things, the approval of the U.K. Financial Services Authority. “Kiln’s investment is also subject to, among other things, its shareholders’ approval,” it continued.

The management team will be headed by “Stuart Wright as chief executive officer and director of underwriting, and will include Paul Hosking as chief financial officer, Michael Earp as technical and administration officer, and Peter Glanfield as professional indemnity underwriting manager,” the announcement concluded.