Hartford Agrees to Buy Navigators for $2.1 Billion in Cash

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. agreed to purchase Navigators Group Inc. for about $2.1 billion in cash, expanding into specialty coverage with the insurer’s biggest acquisition ever. Hartford will pay $70 a share for Navigators, the companies said Wednesday in separate statements, or about 8.9 percent more than Navigators’ closing price Tuesday. The deal includes a 30-day “go-shop” provision for other suitors to propose a deal for Navigators, whose shares have surged 32 percent this year.