九色

Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited announced that it has closed the public offering of 17,551,558 ordinary shares at a price of $23.00 per share, raising aggregate net proceeds of approximately $400 million.

Aspen said it “expects to use the aggregate net proceeds for general corporate purposes including the provision of additional capital to its Bermudan subsidiary. Lehman Brothers Inc. acted a s sole manager in connection with this offering.”

Katrina hit Aspen hard. The company recently estimated that its retained losses, after recoveries from its outwards reinsurance program and the impact of outwards and inwards re-instatement premiums, were likely to be between $325 million and $400 million on an after tax basis (See IJ Website Oct. 3). Standard & Poor’s has put the company’s ratings on its CreditWatch/Negative list.

“All the shares were offered by Aspen and were sold pursuant to Aspen’s effective Form F-3 shelf registration statement, “said the bulletin.