Travelers Property Casualty Corp

A federal bankruptcy judge approved a plan by Travelers Property Casualty Corp. to pay $500 million to settle claims against the insurer by people with asbestos-related diseases linked to asbestos maker Johns Manville Corp. More than 600,000 people sued Travelers claiming that it knew about the hazards of asbestos and failed to disclose them over the course of 30 years as Manville's primary insurer.

St. Paul Cos. on Monday agreed to buy larger rival Travelers Property Casualty Corp. for $16.4 billion in stock, creating the second-largest commercial property insurer in the country.

Travelers Property Casualty Corp. added $2.45 billion to reserves for asbestos-related claims, leading to the insurer's first annual loss since it was formed six years ago.

Travelers Property Casualty Corp.'s shares notched solid gains in Friday's trading debut, bucking the market's down trend, after the Citigroup Inc. unit generated $3.

Construction is underway in Diamond Bar on two regional headquarters that when completed are expected to bring in as many as 1,100 jobs and generate more than $8 million a year in sales for local stores and services.