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PARIS RE HOLDINGS COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ONGOING BUSINESS OF AXA
RE
Greenwich, CT, December 21, 2006 – PARIS RE Holdings, a newly
formed Bermuda-based reinsurance company, announced today that it has
completed the acquisition of the ongoing business of AXA RE, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of AXA (NYSE: AXA). PARIS RE was capitalized with approximately
$1.6 billion by a consortium of international investors led by Stone
Point Capital LLC to assume the ongoing business of AXA RE.
PARIS RE Holdings will continue to pursue the successful strategy implemented
by the current management team of AXA RE. The Company is led by Hans-Peter
Gerhardt as President and CEO. Mr. Gerhardt has 24 years of experience
in the reinsurance industry and has served as President and CEO of
AXA RE since 2003.
Stone Point Capital CEO Charles A. Davis said, “The AXA RE management
team, led by Peter Gerhardt, has successfully repositioned this company
over the past several years. PARIS RE is a strong international reinsurance
franchise that is well positioned in today’s market.”
Mr. Gerhardt stated, “We are delighted to announce the completion
of this transaction and eager to become an independent company with
the financial backing of several leading international private equity
firms. With $1.6 billion of new capital, PARIS RE is in a strong capital
position, and we are optimistic about current market opportunities.
AXA Group has been an excellent owner.”
In addition to Trident III, L.P., a fund managed by Stone Point Capital,
other lead investors in PARIS RE Holdings include affiliates of Hellman & Friedman
LLC, Vestar Capital Partners, Crestview Capital Partners, Och-Ziff
Capital Management, ABN AMRO and New Mountain Capital. AXA will retain
a 3.4% stake in the company.
About PARIS RE:
PARIS RE is a global provider of reinsurance solutions through its
operating subsidiaries located in Bermuda, Paris, Miami, Montreal and
Zug and, for space risks, in Washington D.C. AXA RE Asia Pacific Ltd.,
based in Singapore, will join the PARIS RE Group by July, 2007. PARIS
RE operates in all lines of business including property, catastrophe,
casualty, motor, agriculture, aviation/space, credit/surety, engineering,
energy, marine, life and health, special risks, and weather covers.
At its formation, PARIS RE acquired all of the active business of AXA
RE. PARIS RE was initially capitalized with $1.6 billion in equity
and is expected to have gross premium of approximately $1.6 billion
in 2006.
About the Investor Group:
Stone Point Capital LLC is a global private equity firm based in Greenwich,
Connecticut. Stone Point Capital, which serves as the manager of the
Trident Funds, has raised more than $6 billion in capital for investments
in the insurance, employee benefits and financial services industries.
Prior to the formation of Stone Point Capital in 2005, the principals
of the firm led the private equity firm MMC Capital, Inc.
Hellman & Friedman LLC is a leading private equity investment firm
with offices in San Francisco, New York and London. Since its founding
in 1984, the firm, through its affiliated funds, has raised and managed
over $8 billion of committed capital and invested in over 60 companies.
Hellman & Friedman has focused on investing in superior business
franchises and as a value-added partner to management in select industries,
including financial services, media, software, professional services
and energy. The firm has pursued investments in the insurance sector
for over a decade, which include Arch Capital Group Limited (ACGL),
GeoVera Insurance Group, Ltd., MidOcean Limited, Mitchell International,
Inc., and Vertafore, Inc. Its European investments include Formula
One, ProSiebenSat1.AG, Axel Springer, and Mondrian Investment Partners.
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm specializing
in management buyouts and growth capital investments. Vestar's investment
strategy is targeted towards companies in the U.S. and Europe with
valuations in the $100 million to $5 billion range. Since the firm's
founding in 1988, Vestar has completed over 50 investments in the U.S.
and Europe in companies with a total value of
approximately $17 billion. These companies have varied in size and
geography and span a broad range of industries. The firm's strategy
is to invest behind management teams, family owners or corporations
in a creative, flexible and entrepreneurial way with the overriding
goal to build long-term franchise value. Vestar currently manages funds
totaling approximately $7 billion and has offices in New York City,
Denver, Boston, Paris and Milan.
Crestview Capital Partners is a $1.4 billion private equity fund. The
firm was founded in 2004 by a group of Goldman Sachs partners and colleagues
who had served in leadership roles in the firm's private equity business
and senior management. Crestview's founding partners have invested
nearly $6 billion in a wide range of industries in North America and
Europe. Crestview's investors include primarily entrepreneurs, families,
and endowments, as well as the partners of the firm.
Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, founded in 1994 by Daniel Och, is
a global institutional asset management firm, with offices in the U.S.,
London, and Hong Kong, managing in excess of $16 billion. Och-Ziff
has over $2 billion currently invested in Global Private Equity, which
encompasses various industries and geographies. The firm seeks to achieve
consistent, positive absolute returns that are not correlated with
the equity market indices through investments in securities of many
asset classes.
ABN AMRO is a leading financial institution with assets of €880
billion and shareholders’ equity of €22 billion as of December
31, 2005. ABN AMRO’s Merchant Banking Group makes non-strategic
private equity investments in the financial services sector using ABN AMRO’s balance sheet capital.
Its private equity investment portfolio currently includes significant
minority investments in Korea Exchange Bank in South Korea, NIB Capital
in The Netherlands, GFKL Financial Services in Germany and Bluestone
Mortgages in Australia.
New Mountain Capital manages private equity and public equity capital
with aggregate assets under management totaling more than $3.0 billion.
New Mountain is a generalist firm but has developed particular competitive
advantages in the most attractive sectors of education, health care,
business services, IT services, media, software, insurance, consumer
products, water and power. New Mountain's insurance experience includes
a recent investment in Validus Re, a newly formed Bermuda-based property & casualty
reinsurance company.
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Contact Information:
Charles A. Davis
Stone Point Capital LLC
(203) 862-2900
Hans-Peter Gerhardt
PARIS RE Holdings Limited
(441) 292-8498
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