France’s SCOR Group opened a new front in its bid to acquire Swiss-based reinsurer Converium (See IJ web site Feb.19). SCOR followed its acquisition of 32.9 percent of Converium’s shares with a hostile offer to acquire the remainder for around CHF3.1 billion ($2.54 billion).
SCOR proposes to pay half a share plus CHF4 ($3.275) in cash. The bid values Converium at around CHF21.10 ($17.28) per share, approximately 17 percent over the Company’s share price prior to SCOR’s bid.
Converium promptly issued a statement indicating that its Board of Directors had considered the offer and “does not consider this formal pre-announcement to be materially different to the previous unsolicited proposal of SCOR about which Converium commented on February 19, 2007.”
The bulletin added that the Board “continues to be unanimous in its rejection of this offer. The unsolicited proposal fundamentally fails to recognise the value of Converium’s franchise and growth prospects, and is, therefore, not in the interest of Converium, its shareholders, and its customers. The Board of Directors of Converium will comment further once SCOR’s offer prospectus is published.”
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