Aspen shareholders reject Endurance proposals

Endurance’s attempted takeover of Aspen has come to a standstill as Endurance fails to secure the required support.

Following the market’s close, on Friday June 25, 2014, Aspen released a statement based on preliminary voting results which said that the overwhelming majority of Aspen shareholders participating in the consent solicitation have rejected both of Endurance’s proposals.

“Based on these preliminary results, as provided by the company’s proxy solicitor, Aspen believes that shareholders owning at least 76 percent of Aspen’s outstanding shares did not support Endurance’s proposal to call a special meeting at which shareholders would vote on a proposal to increase the size of Aspen’s board to 19 directors, and shareholders holding at least 81 percent of Aspen’s outstanding shares did not support Endurance petitioning the Supreme Court of Bermuda as part of a legal maneuver called an involuntary scheme of arrangement.

“Of these amounts, shareholders holding more than 60 percent of Aspen’s outstanding shares took action to affirmatively reject both proposals on Aspen’s blue revocation card. Thus, Aspen estimates that the number of shares affirmatively rejecting both Endurance proposals was at least two-and-a-half times as many as the number that consented.”