Printed from BusinessInsurance.com

Former AIG exec to head merged Bermuda insurance group

Posted On: Aug. 7, 2020 11:15 AM CST

Sid Sankaran

Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance groups Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. and Sirius International Insurance Group Ltd. have agreed to merge in a deal valued at $788 million.

The merged company, SiriusPoint Ltd., will have about $3.3 billion in capital and will be headed by Sid Sankaran, a former chief financial officer of American International Group Inc., according to a statement announcing the merger late Thursday.

Third Point was formed in 2011 by hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb and was led for its first five years by longtime reinsurance executive John Berger. In 2017, Robert Bredahl was named CEO; he resigned last year and joined reinsurance brokerage TigerRisk Partners LLC. He was replaced by Daniel Malloy. Mr. Malloy “will remain a senior underwriting executive of SiriusPoint,” the statement said.

Sirius is an insurer and reinsurer that was originally based in Sweden. White Mountains Insurance Co. Ltd. bought the company in 2004 and sold it to a unit of Shanghai-based China Minsheng Investment Group in 2015. Earlier this year, Sirius was downgraded to A- from A by Oldwick, New Jersey-based rating agency A.M. Best Co. Inc., which cited restrictions placed on the insurer and reinsurer by its Chinese parent.

Third Point Re will finance the deal through a combination of cash; Third Point equity issued to Sirius shareholders; Third Point equity issued to Mr. Loeb, who will buy about $50 million in Sirius shares; and “if necessary” other debt or equity financing, the statement said.

China Minsheng will receive $100 million in cash and about 58 million Third Point shares in addition to preference shares, warrants and other securities.

Mr. Sankaran, who will be chairman and CEO of the merged company, left AIG in 2018 and has been on Third Point Re’s board since 2019.

Kip Oberting, president and CEO of Sirius, will step down when the transaction closes. Steven Fass, Third Point Re’s former lead independent director and former CEO of Sirius, will be vice chairman of SiriusPoint.