Alleghany Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty reinsurance and insurance business in the United States. It operates through two segments, reinsurance and insurance. The reinsurance segment offers reinsurance services for a range of property insurance products, such as fire, allied lines, auto physical damage, and homeowners multiple peril lines; and casualty and other products, including liability, medical malpractice, ocean marine and aviation, auto liability, accident and health, surety, and credit. This segment provides property and casualty reinsurance to insurers and reinsurers through brokers and on a direct basis to ceding companies. The insurance segment underwrites specialty insurance coverages in the property, umbrella/excess liability, general liability, directors and officers liability, and professional liability lines of insurance; surety products, such as commercial surety bonds and contract surety bonds; and workers' compensation insurance. This segment offers its products through insurance brokers, and independent and general insurance agents. The company also manufactures and remanufactures/retrofits precision machine tools and supplies replacement parts; owns and manages properties comprising improved and unimproved commercial land, and residential lots in Sacramento, California; and manages, sources, executes, and monitors private equity investments. As of December 31, 2012, it owned approximately 320 acres of property in various land use categories ranging from multi-family residential to commercial. Alleghany Corporation was founded in 1929 and is based in New York, New York.