Employers Direct Insurance Company, which earlier announced that it was backing out of the California workers’ compensation insurance business, said Tuesday that it was selling the renewal rights of certain existing policies to another company.

The Agoura Hills insurer, which considers the current market in California to be unprofitable, said it signed a definitive agreement with GNW-Evergreen Insurance Services LLC, an Encino company that is one of the largest independent insurance brokerages based in Southern California.

Employers Direct announced in July that it was discontinuing direct sales, and from now on would distribute its workers’ compensation policies exclusively through independent agents and brokers. As part of the deal, GNW-Evergreen will become the company’s producer of new policies in Arizona, California, and Nevada.

As the company has wound down its direct selling of policies, several of its former producers and customer service staff already have joined GNW-Evergreen, it noted.

“As part of our overall strategy to redesign our core workers’ compensation business, finding a broker partner with the same high commitment to service and cutting-edge risk management programs for our policyholders was of paramount importance,” Chief Executive James Little said in a statement. The company plans to make deals with other brokerages around the country.