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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
PEMBROKE, Bermuda—Bermuda reinsurer Validus Holdings Ltd. has a history of making unsolicited offers amid other merger talks.
Property catastrophe reinsurer IPC Holdings Ltd. said in March 2009 that it agreed to merge with Bermuda-based specialty insurer and reinsurer Max Capital Group Ltd. for roughly $912 million in stock, based on market values at the time. W. Marston Becker, then-chairman and CEO of Max Capital, would become president and CEO of the new Bermuda-based Max Capital Group Ltd.
But, the next month, Validus offered to buy IPC for $1.68 billion in stock. Max Capital and Bermuda-based Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Ltd. counterbid, and Omaha, Neb.-based reinsurer Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reportedly made a $1.7 billion cash offer. Validus ended up revising its offer three times, significantly boosting the cash component in an appeal to investors.
After Validus offered $1.72 billion, IPC shareholders rejected the planned merger with Max Capital, and Validus announced an agreement in July 2009 to buy IPC, and the deal closed in September of that year. Analysts said the Validus-IPC combination had too large a concentration of property catastrophe business.