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Exhibit 10.15
COMMUTATION AND RELEASE AGREEMENT
As of the Effective Date, this Commutation
and Release Agreement (this
"Commutation Agreement") is made and
entered into by and between AMERISAFE,
Inc., (also known as Amerisafe Insurance
Group of DeRidder, Louisiana) on behalf
of itself and all of its Affiliated (as
defined herein) and/or subsidiary
companies, including, but not limited to,
American Interstate Insurance Company
and Silver Oak Casualty, Inc., and
Converium Reinsurance (North America) Inc.
(formerly known as Zurich Reinsurance
(North America), Inc.) of Stamford,
Connecticut.
WHEREAS, Company (as defined herein) and
Reinsurer (as defined herein) have
entered into the Reinsurance Agreements (as
defined herein) pursuant to which
Company ceded to Reinsurer, and Reinsurer
assumed from Company, certain
liabilities arising out of policies of
insurance written by Company; and
WHEREAS, Company and Reinsurer wish to
terminate and extinguish the Reinsurance
Agreements and to fully and finally settle,
resolve and commute, by means of the
payment described herein, all their rights,
privileges, duties, liabilities and
obligations under the Reinsurance
Agreements; and
WHEREAS, Company and Reinsurer understand
and acknowledge that Reinsurer's
liabilities and obligations to Company
under the Reinsurance Agreements include
paid and outstanding losses and loss
adjustment expenses, as well as losses
incurred but not reported, and therefore
can be estimated but cannot presently
be determined in an amount certain; and
WHEREAS, Company and Reinsurer intend by
this Commutation Agreement to fully and
forever release and discharge each other
from their respective existing and
future liabilities and obligations,
including contingent and uncertain
liabilities, under the Reinsurance
Agreements; and
WHEREAS, Company and Reinsurer agree that
it is in each of their best interests
to freely and voluntarily enter into this
Commutation Agreement and to
compromise, resolve and settle all amounts
due, or which may become due, between
each other.
NOW, THEREFORE, and in consideration of the
premises and mutual covenants and
conditions set forth herein and the payment
to be made hereunder, and intending
to be legally bound, Company and Reinsurer
agree as follows:
ARTICLE I - DEFINITIONS
A. "Affiliate" or
"Affiliated" means that the person in question is an
"affiliate" of, or a person "affiliated" with a specified person,
if the
person in
question is a person that directly, or indirectly, through one
or more
intermediaries, controls, or is controlled by, or is under
common
control
with, such specified person.
B. "Company" means
AMERISAFE, Inc., (also known as Amerisafe Insurance Group
of
DeRidder, Louisiana) and its predecessors, successors and assigns,
and
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all
Affiliated and/or subsidiary insurers that are presently, or were
at
one
time, parties to any Reinsurance Agreement, including, but not
limited to, the following persons: American Interstate Insurance
Company
and
Silver Oak Casualty, Inc.
C. "Closing Date" is July
27, 2005
D. "Effective Date" is
June 30, 2005.
E. "Reinsurer" is
Converium Reinsurance (North America) Inc. (formerly known
as Zurich
Reinsurance (North America), Inc.) and its predecessors,
successors
and assigns.
F. "Reinsurance
Agreements" are: (i) the specific treaty reinsurance
agreements, including all amendments, endorsements and addenda
thereto,
entered
into by and between Company and Reinsurer as follows: (CRNA
ref.
no.
WC3080A) First Casualty Excess of Loss Reinsurance Agreement -
A20500-221
99-0101 A4, (CRNA ref. no. WC3080B) Second Casualty Excess of
Loss
Reinsurance Agreement- A20500-222 99-0101 A4, (CRNA ref. no.
WC3080C)
Third
Casualty Excess of Loss Reinsurance Agreement - A20500-223
99-01-01
A4; and
(ii) also any and all other insurance or reinsurance agreements
that are
not identified specifically in this paragraph (F) and that are
agreements
pursuant to which Reinsurer assumes or has assumed from Company
liabilities or obligations arising out of insurance written
and/or
reinsurance assumed by Company with the exception of the
following
treaties
that are excluded from the scope of this Commutation Agreement
and shall
remain in full force and effect: (CRNA ref. no. WC3080D) Fourth
Casualty
Excess of Loss Reinsurance Agreement - A20500-224 99-01-01 A4,
(CRNA ref.
no. WC3080E) Fifth Casualty Excess of Loss Reinsurance
Agreement
- A20500-225 99-01-01 A4.
ARTICLE II - PAYMENT
A. Reinsurer shall pay to
Company the sum of USD $61,296,796.68 (the
"Commutation Amount").
B. Reinsurer shall remit
payment of 81% of the Commutation Amount via direct
wire
transfer, in immediately available funds, to the account
designated
by Company
in Exhibit A (that is attached hereto and incorporated herein
by
reference) within two (2) business days of the Closing Date.
Reinsurer
shall
remit payment of the remaining 19% of the Commutation Amount
via
direct
wire transfer, in immediately available funds, to the account
designated
by Company in Exhibit A within eight (8) business days of the
Closing
Date.
ARTICLE III - RELEASE
As of the Effective Date, the Reinsurance
Agreements shall be terminated and
commuted in full and the parties agree as
follows:
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A. In consideration for
Reinsurer's payment of the Commutation Amount,
Company,
on behalf of itself, its Affiliates, and its successors and
assigns,
hereby fully and unconditionally releases and forever
discharges
Reinsurer
and its Affiliates, its successors and assigns, and their
officers,
directors, shareholders, employees, representatives and
attorneys
and their heirs, executors and assigns from any and all
liabilities and obligations arising out of, in respect of, or
relating to
the
Reinsurance Agreements, including, but not limited to, any and
all
premiums,
losses, claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, debts, duties,
sums of
money, covenants, errors, omissions, counter-claims, suits,
accounts,
contributions, indemnifications, promises, interest credit,
ultimate
net loss amounts, return premium amounts, funds withheld
account
balance
amounts (whether such balance amounts are positive or negative
as
of the
Effective Date), experience refund amounts, dividends,
expenses,
costs,
offsets, attorney's fees, and all other causes of action and
demands
whatsoever, whether in law, in equity, or otherwise, whether
known
or
unknown, vested or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, matured
or
unmatured,
reported or unreported, disputed or undisputed, quantified or
not
quantified and whether currently existing or arising in the
future.
Company
acknowledges that its receipt of the Commutation Amount effects
a
complete
discharge, release, accord, satisfaction, settlement and
commutation of all of the past, present and future liabilities
and
obligations of Reinsurer
arising out of, in respect of, or relating to the
Reinsurance Agreements.
B. Effective
simultaneously with Company's release of Reinsurer as provided
in
Paragraph A herein, Reinsurer on behalf of itself, its Affiliates,
and
its
successors and assigns, hereby fully and unconditionally releases
and
forever
discharges Company and its Affiliates, its successors and
assigns,
and their
officers, directors, shareholders, employees, representatives
and
attorneys and their heirs, executors and assigns from any and
all
liabilities and obligations arising out of, in respect of, or
relating to
the
Reinsurance Agreements, including, but not limited to, any and
all
premiums,
losses, claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, debts, duties,
sums of
money, covenants, errors, omissions, counter-claims, suits,
accounts,
contributions, indemnifications, promises, interest credit,
ultimate
net loss amounts, return premium amounts, funds withheld
account
balance
amounts (whether such balance amounts are positive or negative
as
of the
Effective Date), experience refund amounts, dividends,
expenses,
costs,
offsets, attorney's fees, and all other causes of action and
demands
whatsoever, whether in law, in equity, or otherwise, whether
known
or
unknown, vested or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, matured
or
unmatured,
reported or unreported, disputed or undisputed, quantified or
not
quantified and whether currently existing or arising in the future,
it
being the
intention of the parties that this Commutation Agreement
operates
as a full and final settlement of any and all of the parties'
respective
obligations and liabilities related to the Reinsurance
Agreements.
C. Nothing in this
Commutation Agreement shall be construed as releasing any
claims
that Company or Reinsurer may have against any person that is not
a
person (or
category or subset of persons) that is included within the
scope of
the general release language set forth in Paragraph A and
Paragraph
B herein,
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including
but not limited to, any claims or potential claims that
Reinsurer may have against
its retrocessionaires that arise out of or are
related to
one or more of the Reinsurance Agreements. This Commutation
Agreement
shall not confer any rights or benefits upon any third party,
except
as