Deere To Sell Crop Insurance Business

(RTTNews) - Agricultural machinery maker Deere & Co. (DE) said Thursday that it has agreed to sell its crop insurance business to Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa, headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa.

The deal will result in Deere selling both John Deere Insurance Company and John Deere Risk Protection, Inc., which together made up the crop insurance business unit of John Deere Financial.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of the 2015 calendar year.

Deere has been involved in the crop insurance business for 9 years, during which John Deere Insurance Company became a top-10 provider of crop insurance with national distribution.

In September, Deere said it would review strategic options for its crop insurance business and that it had retained Citi as exclusive financial advisor toward that end.