Fairfax Financial to acquire Allied World for $ 4.9 b

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (“Fairfax”) and Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG (“Allied World”) announced that they have entered into a merger agreement, pursuant to which Fairfax will acquire all of the outstanding registered ordinary shares of Allied World.

A global financial services conglomerate, Fairfax owns Union Assurance General, Sri Lanka and its fully owned subsidiary, Fairfirst Insurance Ltd., Sri Lanka. Continuing to further strengthen its footprint around the world, Fairfax had also entered into an agreement to acquire insurance operations from American International Group, Inc. (AIG) in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela and Turkey, recently.

Allied World’s position as a market-leading global property, casualty and specialty insurer and reinsurer; its major worldwide presence and its disciplined approach to underwriting make it a natural candidate to join Fairfax’s expanding worldwide operations. Additionally, Allied World will be able to leverage Fairfax’s expertise in Canada, the United States and international insurance and reinsurance markets, thus enhancing Allied World’s global product offering and providing it with expanded underwriting opportunities and support.

“We are excited to have Allied World join the Fairfax group,” said Fairfax Chairman and CEO Prem Watsa. “Allied World is a high-quality company with an excellent long-term track record and an outstanding management team led by Scott Carmilani. We look forward to supporting Scott and the entire team at Allied World in growing their business over the long-term.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Allied World,” said Allied World President, CEO and Chairman Scott Carmilani. “We are excited to be joining the Fairfax organisation - we share their passion for underwriting excellence and their entrepreneurial approach to growing the business with a long-term orientation. Fairfax provides a great home for Allied World to continue to build a strong business for our customers, business partners and employees.”

The transaction is subject to approvals from applicable regulators and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. Closing of the transaction is currently expected to occur in the second quarter of 2017.