Allstate to Buy National General in Record $4 Billion Deal (2)

Allstate Corp. agreed to buy National General Holdings Corp. for about $4 billion in cash in the auto insurer’s biggest acquisition ever.

The deal helps Allstate expand in personal insurance, boosting its market share in that business more than 1 percentage point to 10%, the company said Tuesday in a statement. Allstate will pay $34.50 a share, about 69% more than Tuesday’s closing price.

“We’ll essentially be doing a reverse merger of our independent-agent businesses into National General,” Allstate Chief Executive Officer Tom Wilson said Wednesday on a conference call. “By combining our independent-agent businesses into the National General ...