Travelers 2004 Annual Report Download - page 57

Item 2. PROPERTIES
The Company owns its corporate headquarters buildings located at 385 Washington Street and 130 West
Sixth Street, St. Paul, Minnesota. These buildings are adjacent to one another and consist of approximately 1.1
million square feet of gross floor space. The Company also owns properties in Woodbury, Minnesota, where an
administrative services building and off-site computer processing operations are located. The Woodbury
properties are currently being marketed for sale.
The Company also owns six buildings in Hartford, Connecticut. The Company currently occupies
approximately 1.7 million square feet of office space in these buildings. The Company also owns other real
property, which includes office buildings in Fall River, Massachusetts, and in Irving, Texas, and a data center
located in Norcross, Georgia. In addition, the Company leases 222 field and claim offices totaling approximately
4.9 million square feet throughout the United States under leases or subleases with third parties.
The Company owns a building in London, England, which houses a portion of its operations in the United
Kingdom.
The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns an investment portfolio of income-producing properties and
real estate funds. Included in this portfolio are four office buildings in which the Company holds a 50%
ownership interest located in New York, New York, which collectively accounted for approximately 13% of the
carrying value of the property portfolio at December 31, 2004.
In the opinion of the Company’s management, the Company’s properties are adequate and suitable for its
business as presently conducted and are adequately maintained.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
This section describes the major pending legal proceedings, other than ordinary routine litigation incidental
to the business, to which the Company or its subsidiaries are a party or to which any of the Company’s property
is subject.
Asbestos and Environmental-Related Proceedings
In the ordinary course of its insurance business, the Company receives claims for insurance arising under
policies issued by the Company asserting alleged injuries and damages from asbestos and other hazardous waste
and toxic substances which are the subject of related coverage litigation, including, among others, the litigation
described below. The Company continues to be subject to aggressive asbestos-related litigation. The conditions
surrounding the final resolution of these claims and the related litigation continue to change.
TPC is involved in three significant proceedings relating to ACandS, Inc. (ACandS), formerly a national
distributor and installer of products containing asbestos, including ACandS’ bankruptcy proceedings. The
proceedings involve disputes as to whether and to what extent any of ACandS’ potential liabilities for bodily
injury asbestos claims are covered by insurance policies issued by TPC. These proceedings have resulted in
decisions favorable to TPC, although those decisions are subject to appellate review. The status of the various
proceedings is described below.
ACandS filed for bankruptcy in September 2002 (In re: ACandS, Inc., pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court
for the District of Delaware). In its proposed plan of reorganization, ACandS sought to establish a trust to pay
asbestos bodily injury claims against it and sought to assign to the trust its rights under the insurance policies
issued by TPC. The proposed plan and disclosure statement filed by ACandS claimed that ACandS had settled
the vast majority of asbestos-related bodily injury claims currently pending against it for approximately $2.80
billion. ACandS asserts that, based on a prior agreement between TPC and ACandS and ACandS’ interpretation
of the July 31, 2003 arbitration panel ruling described below, TPC is liable for 45% of the $2.80 billion. On
January 26, 2004, the bankruptcy court issued a decision rejecting confirmation of ACandS’ proposed plan of
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