Farmers Insurance Review Upheld Again: Arizona became...

Farmers Insurance Review Upheld Again: Arizona became the sixth of nine states to thwart an attempt by Sir James Goldsmith’s Hoylake Investors to block state review of the hostile takeover of Farmers Group’s British parent, BAT Industries. A federal judge in Arizona rejected Hoylake’s challenge of state review of what it depicted as an international transaction, noting that the states retain regulatory authority over insurance. Regulators must rule on the change of ownership of BAT’s Los Angeles holding company, whose insurance units are headquartered in the nine states. Meanwhile, Hoylake won a year’s extension from British regulators to obtain needed U.S. approvals.