M&A

Start-up Chinese investment company China Minsheng Investment (CMI) is to buy White Mountains reinsurance subsidiary Sirius in a $2.2bn deal, the company announced today.

Axis said it had halted work on its integration with PartnerRe after the reinsurer announced that it would enter into takeover talks with Exor.

PartnerRe will seek to open up negotiations with Exor after the investment company submitted a $140.50 per share cash offer for the reinsurer yesterday.

The run of stealth (re)insurance M&A deals continued in the past month, with the focus moving to the primary market as Ace agreed a $28.3bn acquisition of Chubb

M&A activity has taken off in the reinsurance market over the past year - with integration at some merged companies well underway while the fraught battle between Axis and Exor for PartnerRe continues

It is understood Catco founder Tony Belisle is keen for the company to tie up with a reinsurer as the Bermudian investment manager works towards a sale, but industry observers remain sceptical that this will be the outcome of the process.

Axis has lifted the pre-closing dividend offered to PartnerRe investors by more than 50 percent, taking the total face value of its bid to $138.08 per share.

Analysts have said that Exor's newly improved offer terms for PartnerRe could be sufficient to swing the crucial shareholder vote against the rival Axis bid later this month.

Reinsurers will be watching the fallout from the Ace-Chubb deal for signs on the extent of the role the recently launched ABR Re vehicle will play in the combined operation

Ace has agreed to buy rival US insurance carrier Chubb in a cash-and-stock $28.3bn deal, the companies announced today (1 July).

Consultancy Towers Watson and broker Willis Group have announced they are to combine in an all-stock merger transaction to form a new entity called Willis Towers Watson.

Retro market leader Catco Investment Manager could secure a valuation of around $300mn when the business is sold, according to analysis from Trading Risk