(Bloomberg) -- Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. Chief ExecutiveOfficer Albert Benchimol, who’s working to complete a merger withPartnerRe Ltd., said his company can withstand a collapse of thedeal and that a termination fee would soften the blow.
“We intend to work on making it happen,” Benchimol said in aletter to employees, issued Wednesday in a filing. “But if itdoesn’t, we are still the same strong company we were before weannounced the merger, and if PartnerRe sells to another party weexpect to receive a $280 million breakup fee that would increaseour book value by approximately 5%.”
PartnerRe said Wednesday that it would negotiate with Italy’sExor SpA, a hostile bidder seeking to upset the merger. Axis andPartnerRe agreed in January to form the world’s fifth-largestproperty-and-casualty reinsurer in a deal that has since beensweetened to value PartnerRe at $126 a share, based onBermuda-based Axis’s closing price of $52.33 on May 1.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
