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Ace Group announces $5.3 billion bond to fund Chubb buy

Posted On: Oct. 27, 2015 12:00 AM CST

Ace Group announces $5.3 billion bond to fund Chubb buy

(Reuters) — Swiss insurer Ace Group Ltd. on Tuesday announced a $5.3 billion four-part bond to help finance its $28.3 billion acquisition of Chubb Corp., and is expected to price the trade later in the day.

Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Citigroup are active bookrunners on the transaction, comprising five, seven, 10.5 and 30-year tranches of senior unsecured notes.

Initial price thoughts are Treasuries plus 110bp area, 130 base points area, 150 base points area and 170 base points area, respectively.

Shareholders of the two companies approved the merger last week. It is the largest ever takeover in the insurance sector.

The combined company, which will adopt Chubb's name, will be led by Ace CEO Evan Greenberg, the son of former American International Group Inc. boss Maurice Greenberg.

Zurich-based ACE has been on an acquisition spree.

It bought Allianz's Fireman's Fund personal insurance unit for $365 million in December and Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s high-risk corporate insurance business for about $680 million in July 2014.