Vestar Capital Partners / News
PARIS RE HOLDINGS LIMITED ANNOUNCES TWO CAPITAL MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES:
IMMEDIATE LAUNCH OF SHARE BUY–BACK PROGRAM AND PROPOSED RETURN OF CAPITAL TO SHAREHOLDERS IN CONNECTION WITH SUBDEBT ISSUANCE ANTICIPATED IN EARLY 2008
Zug, Switzerland, December 12, 2007. PARIS RE Holdings Limited (Euronext: PRI) (“PARIS RE” or the “Company”) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buy-back program effective immediately and has called an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to approve a return of up to US $400 million of capital, reflecting PARIS RE's commitment to effectively manage its capital and introduce leverage into its balance sheet.
Adoption of Share Buy-Back Program. PARIS RE’s Board of Directors approved a share buy-back program of the Company’s shares for an 18-month period in accordance with the provisions of the General Regulation (Règlement Général) of the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorité des marchés financiers) and Swiss law. The maximum purchase price was set at ⁄20.00 per share and the number of shares to be acquired may not exceed 1 million, representing approximately 1.2% of the Company’s authorized share capital.
The objectives of the program include, but are not limited to, having shares available for delivery to corporate officers, directors and employees of the Company, or of companies of the PARIS RE group, in connection with the Company’s equity incentive plans. The description of the program is available at www.paris-re.com or on the French Financial Markets Authority’s website at www.amf-france.org. Copies are available by mail, free of charge, upon request.
Proposal of Conditional Excess Capital Distribution. PARIS RE’s Board of Directors has also called an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to be held in Zug, Switzerland, on January 14, 2008 to approve a distribution of excess capital to shareholders. The distribution of up to US $400 million would be made by reduction of the nominal value of each share and would be conditioned upon PARIS RE successfully issuing subordinated debt on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Company in early 2008. For more information, please refer to the invitation to the extraordinary general meeting at www.paris-re.com.
Hans-Peter Gerhardt, Chief Executive Officer of PARIS RE, commented: “Consistent with our stated objectives, these initiatives represent important steps towards our stated goal of introducing leverage into our balance sheet in order to enhance our return on equity and to opportunistically repurchase stock at attractive valuations. While market conditions for issuing debt are challenging at this time, we are taking the necessary actions to position ourselves to return capital in the most efficient manner in 2008 to the extent market conditions improve.”
About PARIS RE
PARIS RE is a global provider of reinsurance solutions through its operating subsidiaries located in Switzerland, France, the United States, Singapore, Canada and Bermuda. PARIS RE employs approximately 350 people. PARIS RE operates in all lines of facultative and treaty reinsurance covering property, casualty, marine, aviation & space, credit & surety, life, accident & health as well as a wide range of other risks. At its formation, PARIS RE acquired essentially all of the active business of AXA RE. PARIS RE’s majority shareholders are an investor group led by Hellman & Friedman, Stone Point Capital, Vestar Capital Partners and Crestview Partners.
PARIS RE is listed by the Eurolist market of Euronext Paris (compartment A, ticker PRI, ISIN code CH0032057447). For more information, visit PARIS RE’s web site at www.paris-re.com.
For further information, please contact:
PARIS RE Holdings Limited
Valérie Jacquemin Head of Financial Communication and External Relations E-mail: valerie.jacquemin@paris-re.com Tel: +41 41 727 51 57