Casualty Insurance Co for $125 million in cash through one of its subsidiaries.

The company's subsidiary, FolksAmerica Holding Co. Inc has brokered the deal after health maintenance organisation operator Humana Inc. said yesterday it would sell its workers compensation and supplemental health insurance sections to concentrate on its core business.

Humana also said it would take a charge of between $400 million-$500 million in the fourth quarter after evaluating goodwill on prior acquisitions.

PCA Property is a wholly owned subsidiary of Humana, which said the proceeds of the sale, expected to close this quarter, would primarily be used to reduce debt.

Humana acquired PCA P&C in 1997 as part of its acquisition of Physician Corporation of America, and integrated that company's managed care operations into its own.

Humana said the remaining PCA workers compensation insurance operation was not core to its overall operations. Humana said it expected to incur a pretax loss of $65 million on the sale of PCA P&C.

It said that loss, plus a re-evaluation of goodwill related to previous acquisitions, would lead to a likely charge in the range of $400 million to $500 million for the quarter ending December 31, 1999. James Murray, Humana chief financial officer, said: "Today's announcements are important steps towards improving the quality of Humana's balance sheet and freeing cash to reduce debt and take advantage of market opportunities.''