Allianz Global Risks v. ACE Property & Casualty Ins. Co., 297 Or App 434 (2019) involved a contribution action brought by the plaintiff insurers against several defendant insurers. The defendant insurers had issued insurance to the same insured, Con-way, prior to 1981. These policies included Con-way’s subsidiary as an insured. In 1981, Con-way sold the subsidiary to Daimler, which was insured by plaintiffs. After defending and indemnifying Daimler, as successor to the subsidiary, in three Superfund claims and more than 1,500 asbestos personal injury claims, the plaintiffs sued the defendant insurers seeking contribution. The Oregon Court of Appeals addressed whether the plaintiffs’ insured, Daimler, had assumed the subsidiary’s contingent liabilities with the 1981 sale. It found that a letter written at the time of the sale clarified that Daimler had not assumed the contingent liabilities: “The letter states explicitly that its purpose is to clarify the terms of the [sale] agreement. It is signed by the parties and unequivocally and unambiguously states that [the subsidiary] has not transferred, and Daimler has not assumed, [the subsidiary’s] contingent liabilities.” Id. at 444. Because Daimler had not assumed the continent liabilities, the court held that the plaintiffs could not seek contribution from the defendant insurers. Soha & Lang, P.S., represented one of the insurer defendants in the action.
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