INSURANCE

Continental Sells Casualty Insurance Unit: The leading property-casualty insurer said it agreed to sell the group to Santa Monica-based Freemont General Corp. for $250 million. The unit is the leading writer of workers’ compensation insurance in Illinois. Continental Corp. also has offices in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and California. The Chicago company said earlier this year that it would sell its workers’ comp group as part of a program to raise capital. Continental lost $84 million during the first six months of the year, due mostly to losses incurred from the Northridge earthquake and last winter’s storms. It recently suspended its dividend payments and said it would lay off 2,000 employees.