Florida-Based Holding Company Acquires Insurance Agencies

21st Century Holding Co. says it has acquired A+ Discount Insurance, a privately held chain of insurance agencies located primarily in Orlando, FL. A+ Discount Insurance generated approximately $15 million in insurance premiums last year. This acquisition increases the number of company-owned agencies in 21st Century's network to 34 from 16.

Under terms of the agreement, in exchange for an undisclosed amount of cash, 21st Century will obtain ownership and control over all 18 of A+ Discount Insurance's agencies, 10 of which are located in Orlando, five in Dade County and three in Palm Beach County. In addition, 21st Century has agreed to retain both managing partners of A+ Discount Insurance—Kent Linder and Michael Braun—to work along with the current management team of Martin Kramer and Donald Doctor in integrating the 18 agencies into 21st Century's agency network.

Kent Linder will be named president of 21st Century's wholly-owned subsidiary, Federated Agency Group, Inc., where he will be responsible for integrating the agencies, expanding A+ Discount's tax service to all of 21st Century's locations and broadening 21st Century's in-house financial-products and service lines. Michael Braun will be appointed executive vice president of Federated Agency Group and will oversee agency operations in Dade and Palm Beach Counties. Martin Kramer, as an executive vice president of Federated Agency Group, will oversee the operations of the Broward County and Central Florida agencies. Donald Doctor will also be named an executive vice president of Federated Agency Group and will be responsible for Florida State Discount Auto Title Loans, Inc., the operations of the tax service and FedFirst Direct.

Edward Lawson, president and CEO of 21st Century, commented, "We are right on track with this acquisition—our first since we went public on Nov. 5. We plan to establish all of these agencies as financial centers to maximize our return on each location, a strategy which we believe will allow us to sustain our aggressive growth rate going forward. This acquisition also will accelerate our growth by increasing our lucrative auto title loan business and giving us the model to establish an agency-wide tax-service program, which we plan to have in place in all of our locations by the end of 1999. In addition, the acquired agencies create a strong presence for us in Orlando, the fastest growing market in Florida, increase our presence in Dade County and introduce us to the Palm Beach County market. Our efforts to grow the business at these new locations will be greatly facilitated by the management from A+ Discount Insurance."