Hartford Seeks Bids for Property Unit: Report

Hartford Financial(HIG Quote) is seeking bids from rivals including Travelers(TRV Quote) for its flagship property insurance business, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

The insurer has solicited offers for the profitable property and casualty unit in recent weeks. Travelers and Ace Ltd.(ACE Quote) may show interest, the people said, and Allianz SE (AZM Quote) already has a $2.5 billion stake in Hartford. Citigroup estimates the unit is worth $4 billion to $8 billion, Bloomberg reports.

Talks earlier this year to sell parts of the life operations to Canada's Sun Life Financial(SLF Quote) ended without a deal, the people said. Hartford continues to seek other buyers for the parts of its life division that sell group benefits, the news agency reports. ...