Exor welcomes PartnerRe vote

Italian investment company Exor is confident that its offer for PartnerRe will prevail, as the reinsurer proceeds to shareholder approval of its merger with Axis Capital.

On May 20, 2015, PartnerRe’s board of directors announced that it had agreed to engage in discussions with Exor to determine whether its offer can be improved, after securing a waiver from Axis, the other bidder.

Following that, Exor sent a letter to the PartnerRe board saying that it was prepared to commence discussions “once the board of PartnerRe declares that Exor’s binding offer is reasonably likely to be a ‘superior proposal’.”

In retaliation to the letter, the reinsurer said: “By demanding that we declare their offer ‘reasonably likely to be a superior proposal’ as a precondition to any negotiations, Exor has effectively rejected our board’s good faith offer made yesterday to engage in discussions on price and other terms. We have made it very clear that Exor’s price and terms are unacceptable.”

However, Exor remains confident that shareholders will vote for its $137.50 per share offer.

Exor said: “Exor is confident that PartnerRe shareholders will vote in their best interest and that Exor’s $137.50 per share all-cash binding offer will ultimately prevail as it provides superior value and certainty.”