Endurance Specialty Increases Offer for Aspen by $2 a Share

Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. increased its offer to buy Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. by $2 a share as it seeks to overcome resistance to its earlier bid.

Endurance said it would pay $49.50 per share for the Hamilton, Bermuda-based company, it said today in a statement. The offer allows Aspen shareholders to choose between cash, stock or a combination of both.

The offer was made privately to Aspen’s board on May 7, and was rejected, Pembroke, Bermuda-based Endurance said in the statement. Aspen also rejected Endurance’s April 14 offer of $47.50 a share on the same day it was made.

“This proposal significantly increases the already highly attractive premium provided by our initial proposal and provides increased certainty to Aspen’s shareholders,” John R. Charman, Endurance’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in the statement. “It also includes a meaningful cash component for an offshore insurance industry transaction.”

Endurance said it also filed a solicitation statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to convene a special meeting of Aspen shareholders.

Aspen offers property and casualty insurance and reinsurance in the U.K., U.S., Southeast Asia and Latin America. The firm adopted a shareholder rights plan, called a poison pill, in April to discourage a hostile takeover by making it too costly.