Markel Ventures Announces AMF Bakery Systems Acquisition of Tromp Bakery Equipment

RICHMOND, Va., July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Markel Ventures, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary AMF Bakery Systems has completed the acquisition of Tromp Bakery Equipment B.V. and affiliated entities ("Tromp"), a global supplier of baking equipment based in Gorinchem, The Netherlands.  Tromp designs and manufactures sheeting lines for pizza, pastry, pie and bread bakers worldwide.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"We are excited to join forces with Tromp," stated Ken Newsome, president of AMF.  "This strategic addition enables us to leverage our position as a global leader in high-speed bread and bun bakery systems and expand our offering into the growing specialty bakery sector."

Bas Tromp, the company's founder, will continue as president.  Mr. Tromp stated, "As I thought about the future of my company, I wanted to find a partner with similar values who would continue to build on our previous accomplishments.  AMF, with its affiliation with Markel, is very unique, and I think this organization will best serve our customers and the people who helped build this company." 

AMF Bakery Systems (www.amfbakery.com) is a global leader in industrial baking systems, specializing in pan bread and bun manufacturing equipment.  AMF has manufacturing plants in Richmond, VA; Atlanta, GA; Sherbrooke, Canada; and Tianjin, China with sales offices in Leeds, UK; Singapore and Beijing.

Markel Ventures, Inc. (www.markelventures.com) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Markel Corporation (NYSE: MKL). Markel Ventures makes strategic and generally controlling investments in businesses that operate outside of the specialty insurance marketplace. The primary goal of Markel Ventures is to positively contribute to the long-term financial performance of Markel Corporation through the value creating operating activities of its subsidiaries. 

This release contains statements concerning or incorporating the company's expectations, assumptions, plans, objectives, future financial or operating performance and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There are risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from predicted results in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those predicted are set forth under "Risk Factors" and "Safe Harbor and Cautionary Statement" in Markel Corporation's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

About Markel Corporation
Markel Corporation is a diverse financial holding company serving a variety of niche markets. The Company's principal business markets and underwrites specialty insurance products. In each of the Company's businesses, it seeks to provide quality products and excellent customer service so that it can be a market leader. The financial goals of the Company are to earn consistent underwriting and operating profits and superior investment returns to build shareholder value. Visit Markel Corporation on the web at www.markelcorp.com.

SOURCE Markel Corporation

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