SEC Comment Letter for Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. (CIK 0001321268) — Nov 7, 2005
Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. (CIK 0001321268)
Date: Nov. 7, 2005 · CIK: 0001321268 · Accession: 0000000000-05-056457
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File numbers found in text: 333-128913
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<DOCUMENT> <TYPE>LETTER <SEQUENCE>1 <FILENAME>filename1.txt <TEXT> Mail Stop 6010 November 7, 2005 Bruce Eckert Chief Executive Officer Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. 25 Race Avenue Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603 Re: Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed October 11, 2005 File No. 333-128913 Dear Mr. Eckert: We have reviewed your filing and have the following comments. Where indicated, we think you should revise your documents in response to these comments. If you disagree, we will consider your explanation as to why our comment is inapplicable or a revision is unnecessary. Please be as detailed as necessary in your explanation. In some of our comments, we may ask you to provide us with supplemental information so we may better understand your disclosure. After reviewing this information, we may or may not raise additional comments. Please understand that the purpose of our review process is to assist you in your compliance with the applicable disclosure requirements and to enhance the overall disclosure in your filing. We look forward to working with you in these respects. We welcome any questions you may have about our comments or on any other aspect of our review. Feel free to call us at the telephone numbers listed at the end of this letter. General 1. Please complete as many of the blanks in your filing as possible prior to filing the next amendment. 2. Supplementally, please explain to us why a holder`s voting in favor of the conversion is not an investment decision. Also, tell us when the shareholder meeting is to take place (i.e. - before or after which of the offerings). 3. Please explain to us the timing of the proxy solicitation to policyholders. In that regard it appears that for purposes of Section 5 you should at least have a Section 10 prospectus on file before you commence the solicitation. 4. Please file as promptly as possible all exhibits required by the Exhibit Table provided in Item 601(a) of Regulation S-K. We note, for example, that you have not filed the opinion or consent of your legal counsel. Also, we may have substantial comments upon reviewing your subscription agreement. 5. Please note that where we provide examples to illustrate what we mean by our comments, they are examples and not exhaustive lists. If our comments are applicable to portions of the filing that we have not cited as examples, make the appropriate changes in accordance with our comments. 6. In your response letter, please state our comment and then explain each change that has been made in response to a comment. In addition, you should also reference each page number in which disclosure has been revised in response to a comment so that we can easily place your revised disclosure in its proper context. 7. Supplementally or in the next amendment, please provide all exhibits and sales related documents you intend to use in the offering, for our examination. Please file the subscription agreement. We may have further comments. 8. Please forward to us copies of your plan of conversion and any comment and response letters you have submitted or received from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department or other regulators in connection with the conversion and the merger. 9. Supplementally, please furnish us with the "board books" or other valuation materials furnished to you by each of Feldman and Keefe Bruyette. We may have further comments upon reviewing this material. 10. Supplementally, with a view to disclosure, tell us if you plan to register under the Securities Act the sale of the 3,300,711 shares to be issued to EHC shareholders or try to rely upon an exemption from registration regarding the issuance. 11. Does Keefe Bruyette plan to use any supplemental or additional material or disclosure in connection with the community offering? If it does, you should file such material. 12. Please provide all of the disclosure required by Item 201 of Regulation S-K, including but not limited to information concerning shares eligible for future sale in accordance with Item 201(a)(2). Prospectus Cover Page 13. If applicable, you should refer to the account in which funds will be placed as an escrow account rather than as an "account." Please name the escrow agent and file the escrow agreement as an exhibit. Also, throughout the prospectus and the other offering- related documents, you should instruct subscribers to send funds directly to the escrow agent if checks are going to be made payable to the company. 14. Clarify on the cover page that EHC is an insurance company that is not affiliated with Educators or Eastern and will not be unless the transactions are completed. 15. Where you discuss the 100,000 share purchase limitation, you should add disclosure which briefly mentions the 150,000 share associate limitation. Prospectus Summary Educators Mutual Life Insurance Company, p. 2 16. Please update the financial information contained in this section to include September 30, 2005 results and otherwise update your financial statements in accordance with Article 3-12 of Regulation S- X. 17. Please include a brief summary that explains the fact that management has interests that are distinct from the interests of unaffiliated holders in the set of transactions that will follow from this offering. Also describe what those interests are and from where they come, and state that executive officers, directors, and affiliates will have significant ownership interest after the transactions and that a portion of their ownership will come from shares that will be issued at less than the $10 per share purchase price. 18. At the end of the first paragraph of this subsection and on page 78 in the Business section, you reference the "active producer management process, which we believe fosters strong producer relationships and competitive advantages." Statements of opinion are not appropriate for the Prospectus Summary and you should limit your discussion to your plans without referencing competitive advantages, strong relationships or similar terms unless you can provide substantiation for these claims. Please revise the summary accordingly. Our Strategy, p.2 19. We note your discussion of risk factors in the last paragraph under "Our Strategy." Please revise your discussion of your strategies here and in the Business section to discuss the risks and challenges you will face in implementing your strategies. Also, please revise the summary to include a new, separate subsection that describes the risks the company is facing and highlights the most material risks. This section should receive the same prominence as the "Our Strategy" subsection. 20. You state that you will continue to align the interests of Eastern Holdings and its producers by encouraging producers to own Eastern Holdings stock. How have you done this in the past and how do you plan to do this going forward? 21. You state that you believe you are able to provide a level of service that will allow you to maintain a competitive advantage. What is the basis for your apparent conclusion that you have a competitive advantage? 22. You state that the transactions will allow you to improve an AM Best rating of B++. Please disclose that AM Best has 16 ratings and that B++ is the fifth highest rating out of 16. You should also state that AM Best may not undertake or complete soon the process that could result in your rating being improved and that you may not obtain the improved rating. 23. In your last bullet, "Growth through new product introductions and acquisitions," you state that acquisition of other insurance companies or shell companies is an important component of your strategy. Please disclose whether or not you have any specific acquisition opportunities that are currently in the letter of intent, or similar or later phase, or which are contingent upon the closing of the conversion. We may have further comments. Conversion of Educators from Mutual to Stock Form, p. 4 24. Please explain briefly what a mutual form is, what a stock form is and the primary differences between the two. 25. We note the subscriber order of priority in this subsection. Please provide the dates of the offerings for each category listed in the order. 26. Here and throughout the filing, where appropriate, please disclose what filings you will make with us and how you will notify subscribers if the offering is extended. 27. Please explain who IBSI is the first time you mention them. 28. Please expand the disclosure here to state that you will complete the conversion even if the merger is not completed. The Merger, p. 5 29. For each vote described as an approval of EHC shareholders, please disclose the percentage of shares that must approve the transaction in order to satisfy the condition precedent. 30. For each required approval of EHC shareholders that only requires a majority vote for approval, please disclose that the directors of EHC have enough voting power to provide these approvals and quantify their aggregate voting power. How We Determined the Price..., page 7 31. You state that Feldman`s appraisal does not indicate market value. State here and throughout the filing whether or not you have obtained any indication as to what market value is. We note that you are issuing over 3,000,000 shares to EHC shareholders in the merger. Did Keefe Bruyette value those shares as part of determining whether they represented fair consideration in the merger? If it did, what was the market value assigned to them? Did that value exceed the $10 per share offering price? How you can pay..., page 9 32. State to whom checks or money orders should be made payable. Benefits of the offering to Management, p. 10 33. With regard to management, you should introduce the section with a discussion of the percentage ownership multiplied by aggregate book value held by each manager before and after the transactions. Also disclose any other management interests that are divergent from the interests of non-management stockholders. As one example only, we note that management may participate in the ESOP while non- employee stockholders will not have this benefit. We may have further comments on your revisions. Risk Factors, p.11 34. In the introductory paragraph, you should state that if any of the risks described in the Risk Factors section in fact come to fruition, the price of the Holding Company`s common stock could decrease materially and that a shareholder`s investment would consequently decline in value. 35. In the introductory paragraph, please delete the second and third sentences. All material risks should be disclosed in the risk factors section. 36. Please make sure that your risk factors are as fact-specific as possible. For example, on page 11 in the risk factor "Our results may be adversely affected if our actual losses...," you refer as a factor that could affect coverage "legislative enactments, judicial decisions and legal developments..." If there are specific facts that suggest that legal decisions, enactments or developments will impact your ability to cover losses, you should disclose those facts with specificity rather than referring to these problems generically. Please review all of your risk factors to make sure that they are as fact-specific as possible. Please also advise us as to each change made in response to this comment. If we cannot improve results and premium volume..., p. 14 37. Please disclose the amount of losses, if any, that you have incurred in the group benefits business. All of the specialty reinsurance business of Eastern Re..., p. 14 38. We note your discussion of Mr. Bitner`s role with the AmPro and the company. If it is your intention to explain any risk associated with Mr. Bitner`s role in both companies, please revise your disclosure to explain this risk more clearly. Our ability to manage our exposure to underwriting risks..., p. 15 39. You indicate that the cost and availability of reinsurance is subject to current market conditions. If reinsurance is difficult to obtain or cost-prohibitive at this time, you should disclose this fact specifically rather than referring to market conditions generally. A reduction in our AM Best rating..., p. 16 40. Please disclose any facts or circumstances that suggest your rating could decrease in the immediate future. Our investment performance may suffer..., p. 16 41. Please delete the phrase "or other factors" from the heading, as it should reflect all factors described in the risk factor. The outcome of recent industry investigations..., page 17 42. We noted from your risk factor that you encourage your producers to purchase your stock. Please explain to us what this entails. In your response please tell us whether you give stock as compensation for services provided by the producer and whether the producers can purchase the stock at a discount to the market value. If we fail to comply with insurance industry regulations..., p 18 43. We note your reference to regulation of acquisitions and dispositions. Please disclose whether this transaction will require approvals under Pennsylvania law. If so, please consider including a separate risk factor relating to the required approvals. We Could Be Adversely Affected By the Loss Of Our Existing Management..., p 21 44. If you have reason to believe that any key employee will be leaving the company, please disclose this fact in this risk factor. Dividends, page 40 45. Please provide similar disclosure regarding statutory dividend limitation amounts for 2003 and 2004. Market for Eastern Holdings Common Stock, page 41 46. You state that investors should not view your common stock as a short-term investment. What does this mean? Do you expect the market price of your common stock to decrease and remain below the $10 offering price after the transaction is complete? Are there restrictions on resales that investors should know about? Please provide disclosure responsive to each of these questions or delete this disclosure. Capitalization, page 42 47. Please correct the capitalization table to reflect changes in the authorized, issued and outstanding share information. For instance, it appears the preferred stock which you list as issued and outstanding will not be issued and outstanding on the pro forma basis you present. Please correct the table throughout. Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet As of June 30, 2005, page 45 48. It appears that the EHC historical information for the retained earnings and accumulated other income, net of deferred taxes does not agree to Eastern Holding Company`s Consolidated Statements of Changes in Shareholders` Equity for the six months ended June 30, 2005. Please revise the filing or tell us why there is a difference. Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Income Statement for the Year Ended December 31, 2004 Notes to Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, page 51 49. We refer to the intangible assets disclosed in adjustment 6. Please disclose the nature of each intangible asset. In addition please explain to us how an intangible asset was created for the multi-year assumed reinsurance contract. Management`s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Educators Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates Unpaid Claims and Claim Adjustment Expenses & Claims Payable, page 59 50. We believe your disclosure in Management`s Discussion and Analysis regarding the reserve for loss and loss adjustment expenses should explain the judgments and uncertainties surrounding this estimate and the potential impact on your financial statements. We believe that disclosures explaining the likelihood that materially different amounts would be reported under different conditions or using different assumptions is consistent with the objective of Management`s Discussion and A