How Allstate is slowly eating CNA’s lunch

Allstate announced the acquisition of electronics protection provider SquareTrade for about $1.4 billion from a group of shareholders that include Bain Capital. The acquisition provides Allstate access to some 25 million protection plans underwritten by CNA and Starr; to name two insurers, as well as access to major retailers such as Amazon, Costco, and Sam’s Club. While it isn’t clear whether Allstate will want to underwrite part or all of the book, it’s still a possibility. Recall: last month Allstate launched a small business portal targeting online insurance shoppers.

SquareTrade competes with the likes of Asurion and enjoys an average of one million monthly hits to its website.