SCOR Completes Plans to Raise Cash

France’s SCOR Group will hold an Extraordinary General Assembly meeting today, conducted by Chairman Denis Kessler to confirm plans to raise additional capital.

The announcement, which is not for publication in the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia, due to securities laws, will confirm that the group intends to raise 750 million Euros ($896 million) in a rights offering to existing shareholders. The amount is a significant increase over the iniutal plan to raise 600 million euros ($717 million).

SCOR said that “certain SCOR shareholders have confirmed their intention to subscribe for an amount of 300 million euros ($358.5 million), the remainder to be guaranteed by a bank syndicate.” French insurer Groupama owns around an 18 percent stake in SCOR, and has said that it would participate in the rights offer.

The bulletin also indicated that the company has finalized its real estate asset sale program, which involves selling its building in Paris la Defense financial complex, and taking it back on a long term lease. In addition SCOR said it “has finalized the sale of two Parisian residential buildings and one office building in Madrid.”

It also reported progress on the sale of its Bermuda subsidiary, Commercial Risk Partners (CRP), indicating it has finalized a first commutation agreement with one of its main cedants, “reducing its portfolio by 20 perecent relative to its level at the end of 2002. A second commutation contract was signed on the 27th of November 2003, which will further reduce CRP’s portfolio by an additional 40 percent relative to the level at the end of 2002.” SCOR estimated the cost of the second commutation agreement at around 15 million euros ($17.95 million) before taxes.