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With its sale to Sompo Holdings Inc., John Charman's Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. has secured itself the privileged role of becoming the global specialty insurance/reinsurance arm of a vast insurer with an unshakeable cornerstone domestic market position, a long-term perspective and a commitment to fund international growth, according to The Insurance Insider.
The $6.3 billion sale of the business at a 43% premium to the three-month average share price represents a coup for shareholders, who will be able to cash out at a point when returns and valuations are widely perceived as poised to head south.
Charman has again proven his instincts for a deal on the sell-side, following up his high-multiple sale of Tarquin to ACE in the late 1990s with a transaction that pays out Endurance's shareholders just in time to spare them from the worst ravages of the soft market.
But as much as the sale represents a guileful piece of deal-making for Charman's investors, it also offers a strategic gain for Endurance.
The AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. founder had made headway in his transformation of Endurance, but -- partly owing...