Unitrin

Unitrin, Inc. was founded in 1990 as a spin-off from Teledyne, Inc. Today it is a financial services company with a compelling assortment of financial products and services and insurance for individuals, families, and small businesses. Among the coverage they offer are homeowners, life, health, and auto insurance. Unitrin currently has more than 6 million policyholders, employs over 7000, and holds nearly $9 billion in assets.

Unitrin was modeled after the Argonaut Group, Inc., which was originally formed as a workers compensation insurance company. At the outset, Unitrin divided its operations into three parts, health and life insurance, homeowners and auto insurance, and consumer finance services. In 1994, the company was subject to a hostile takeover by American General Corp., which eventually resulted in them taking Unitrin to court. By the end of the year, Unitrin had successfully resisted the takeover bid and entered 1995 as an independent company with soaring income. Unitrin continued to buyback its own stock in an effort to fend off further takeover bids until February 1995 when American General’s bid expired.