NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - A firm run by Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, former CEO of American International Group Inc., has bought a Dallas-based property and casualty insurer from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Greenberg's closely held investment firm Starr International Co. paid an undisclosed sum for Republic Insurance Co., Starr said in a statement. Republic sells property, fire, car and business insurance in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico, according to its Web site, and will be known as Starr Indemnity & Liability Co.

Greenberg controls about $20 billion in assets through Starr International, which has made investments in Chinese private equity and Russian real estate in the past year. He is also chairman of insurance and investing firm CV Starr & Co.

His 38-year reign at New York-based AIG, the world's largest insurer, ended in March 2005 amid accounting probes by regulators including Eliot Spitzer, then New York's attorney general.

AIG paid $1.64bn in February 2006, in part to settle the investigations. Andrew Cuomo, Spitzer's successor, is pursuing a civil suit against Greenberg, who denies any wrongdoing.

Berkshire gets about half its earnings from insurance units include Geico Corp. and General Reinsurance Corp.

Berkshire spokeswoman Jackie Wilson did not immediately return a call and e-mail seeking comment after regular business hours.