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Allianz near sale of Fireman's Fund personal business -reports

FRANKFURT, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Allianz is close to selling the personal insurance business of Fireman's Fund, a U.S. insurer the German company bought in 1991, according to media reports.

Front runners to buy the business, which has about $750 million in premiums, include Ace, AIG and AmTrust, Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and The Insurance Insider reported, citing investment banking and industry sources.

Allianz and AIG declined to comment on the matter. Ace and AmTrust were not immediately available for comment.

The German insurer started a major revamp of Fireman's Fund this year. It said in September it would integrate Fireman's commercial property and casualty (P&C) business into Allianz's speciality insurance business Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

Fireman's Fund has been a headache for Europe's biggest insurer for years and has repeatedly needed its reserves for past claims to be topped up, prompting calls by some analysts for a sale of the business.

The personal insurance business at Fireman's Fund caters for high net worth individuals and accounted for about a third of the company's gross premiums in 2013. (Reporting by Jonathan Gould; additional reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by David Clarke)