Opinion ID: 6330740
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Corporate History and Insurance Coverage

Text: In 1966, Columbia Nitrogen Corporation (Old CNC) began operating a fertilizer manufacturing site in Charleston (the Charleston Site). Respondents issued primary and excess liability insurance policies to Old CNC with policy periods ranging from 1966 to 1985. The policies provide, The company will pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of . . . property damage . . . to which this insurance applies, caused by an occurrence . . . . The policies define occurrence as an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, which results in bodily injury or property damage neither expected nor intended from the standpoint of the insured. The policies contain two provisions pertinent to this appeal—a consent-toassignment provision (sometimes referred to as an anti-assignment provision or a no assignment provision) and a no action provision. The consent-toassignment provision states: Assignment of interest under this policy shall not bind the company until its consent is endorsed hereon. The no action provision states: No action shall lie against the company, unless, as condition precedent thereto, there shall have been full compliance with all of the terms of this policy, nor until the amount of the insured's obligation to pay shall have been finally determined by judgment against the insured after actual trial or by written agreement of the insured, the claimant and the company. Old CNC ceased all fertilizer production at the Charleston Site in 1972 and sold the Charleston Site to a third party in 1985. In 1986, Old CNC sold assets related to its fertilizer production business in Augusta, Georgia, to CNC Corp. (New CNC). In that transaction, New CNC assumed some of Old CNC's liabilities, including those related to Old CNC's fertilizer production business. The 1986 transaction also included the assignment at the root of this appeal. In that assignment, Old CNC transferred to New CNC its rights under expired policies spanning from 1966 to 1985. Old CNC did not obtain Respondents' consent to the assignment. Old CNC dissolved after closing the transaction with New CNC. In 1989, New CNC merged with Fertilizer Industries, Inc., which changed its name to Arcadian Corporation. In 1997, Arcadian Corporation merged with PCS Nitrogen.