Greenlight Re raises $258 million in IPO

GEORGETOWN, Grand Cayman--Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. raised approximately $258 million through the completion of an initial public offering and private placement, the specialty property/casualty reinsurer said Thursday.

Greenlight Re sold at $19 per share a total of 11,787,500 Class A ordinary shares, including 1,537,500 Class A ordinary shares exercised by underwriters of the offer pursuant to an overallotment option. Lehman Brothers Inc. and UBS Securities L.L.C. acted as joint book-running managers for the IPO.

Additionally, Greenlight Re announced the private sale of 2,631,579 shares at $19 per share to David Einhorn, chairman of the Greenlight Re's board of directors.

"Substantially all of the total net proceeds of approximately $258 million from the initial public offering and private placement will be used to increase the underwriting capacity of Greenlight Re's reinsurance operations," the company said in a statement.

Greenlight Re last week said it was seeking to raise $195 million in its IPO.

Greenlight Re is the first open-market reinsurer to be based in the Cayman Islands, launched in late 2005 by New York-based hedge fund Greenlight Capital Inc. with $220 million in capital (BI, Nov. 21, 2005).