Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Verisk Analytics Inc., the supplier of actuarial data co-owned by insurers including Travelers Cos., sold $1.88 billion of stock in an initial public offering, more than planned, in the biggest U.S. IPO since Visa Inc. in 2008.

Verisk sold about 85.3 million shares for $22 each yesterday. The Jersey City, New Jersey-based company had said it would sell shares for $19 to $21.

Investors are betting that an economic recovery will boost earnings, luring buyers to IPOs after a two-year drought. Eleven companies sold shares in September, the most since January 2008, according to Bloomberg data. Verisk Chief Executive Officer Frank Coyne is seeking to capitalize on demand for data that insurance companies use to price coverage and detect policyholder fraud.

“They are a monopoly,” said Francis Gaskins, president of IPODesktop.com in Marina del Rey, California. “There is a continuing demand for what they offer in this environment,” he said. “It’s not explosive growth. It’s consistent growth with a high profit margin.”

Insurers, reinsurers and brokers analyze records on everything from weather to driving behavior to select customers and set rates. The IPO values Verisk at more than $2.4 billion based on 113.1 million Class A shares outstanding. Some owners still hold Class B stock which isn’t convertible for at least 18 months.

‘Positive Indicator’

The value is about 16 times net income of $158.2 million in 2008 on revenue of $893.6 million. Net income was $90.9 million in the first six months of 2009, compared with $80.9 million in the year-earlier period, according to a regulatory filing.

The offering is a “very positive indicator” for the IPO market, said David Menlow, president of IPOfinancial.com in Milburn, New Jersey. “Now it appears as though the market is ready to start taking some of the deals, but not at a rapid pace.”

In Brazil, Banco Santander (Brasil) SA raised about 14.1 billion reais ($8 billion) in the country’s largest IPO.

Verisk had filed for a $750 million IPO last year, then postponed the sale amid the collapse of financial markets. The company expanded the offering because “circumstances had changed” for some of the insurers that held stakes, Coyne said in a Bloomberg Television interview today.

The company, previously known as Insurance Services Office, company won’t receive any money from the sale. American International Group Inc., Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., CNA Financial Corp. and Travelers are among insurers selling stakes. Warren Buffett’sBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is part owner and isn’t selling shares, the filing shows.

Buffett “likes our firm and was very intent on, from the beginning, staying as a shareholder,” Coyne said.

CNA, AIG

CNA was offering about 15 million shares, according to a regulatory filing last week. Based on the IPO price, the Chicago-based insurer may have reaped about $330 million, with Hartford generating about $321 million. AIG stood to make $167 million, selling 7.6 million shares, with Travelers getting about $164 million.

Coyne said the company may seek acquisitions to add to businesses that detect mortgage fraud or serve the health-care industry.

“We’ve done 16 acquisitions since January 2004,” he said.“ We are going to continue on that strategy.”

Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., William Blair & Co., Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller LLC, and KBW Inc. are underwriting the offering, Verisk said.

Underwriters have the option to sell an additional 12.7 million shares if demand warrants. The company will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker VRSK.

Visa, the world’s largest electronic-payments network, raised more than $19 billion in a March 2008 IPO. It was the world’s second-largest public offering after the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.’s $22 billion debut in 2006.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jamie McGee in New York at jmcgee8@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 7, 2009 10:14 EDT