Bermuda-based re/insurer Everest Re Group Ltd said it bought Heartland Crop Insurance Inc to help it expand into a different area of the insurance industry.Everest Re, which is mainly a reinsurer, paid $55 million for Heartland, plus an agreed upon value of the net assets of the company, with an additional contingency of up to $13.5 million based on future performance.With estimated premium of $300 million, Heartland ranks among the larger underwriters of US crop insurance, Everest Re noted.“Heartland provides us the opportunity to grow and diversify our insurance platform into a market that has very attractive underwriting dynamics,” Everest Re chief executive officer Joseph Taranto said in a statement. “The acquisition represents a key strategic step towards building out our insurance business into shorter tail specialty lines and is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year.”