HSB To Acquire Refining and Petro-Chem Management Consultant

HSB Group, Inc. (HSB) and Solomon Associates, Inc. (SAI) announced an agreement for HSB to acquire SAI. The boards of directors of both corporations have approved the proposed acquisition, the terms of which were not disclosed. SAI will operate closely with HSB Reliability Technologies, as part of the HSB family.

SAI, which provides comparative performance benchmarking to 80 percent of the worldwide petroleum refining industry, had gross 1997 sales of $13 million. The company also serves petro-chemical and power generation customers, and conducts performance improvement consulting, business valuation assessments, and performance monitoring and maintenance database services.

The company was founded in 1981, is headquartered in Dallas and has offices in Houston and Windsor, England.

"The resources of HSB will help to accelerate the continued growth of our company," says Lee Solomon, who will remain chief executive officer and be appointed chairman of the SAI board of directors. "Further, we have found a match that will not only protect the integrity of the confidential database we administer, but will also enhance the range of services which SAI can offer to clients."

"SAI is the world leader in setting the efficiency and productivity benchmarks used by the refining and petro-chemical industries," says James Sutherlin, president of HSB Reliability Technologies. "This acquisition expands our engineering management consulting services and benchmarking capability. SAI is a significant addition to our capacity to help clients optimize the economies of their business operations."

HSB is the parent company of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, founded in 1866 and the largest provider of equipment breakdown insurance in the world. HSB provides specialty insurance, reinsurance and technical consulting services to businesses, governments and institutions in more than 80 countries worldwide.