31 July 2014News

Endurance terminates offer to acquire Aspen

Endurance has announced the termination of its exchange offer to acquire Aspen, which was previously scheduled to expire on August 29th, 2014.

In connection with the termination of its acquisition offer, Endurance has said it will not be pursuing its board size increase and scheme of arrangement proposals.

John Charman, chairman and CEO of Endurance, comments: "We appreciate the support of those Aspen shareholders who voted for Endurance's proposals.  The votes of support for both of our proposals exceeded our stated thresholds.  However, we believe the current Bermuda corporate governance laws, Aspen's focus on defensive self-preservation tactics rather than value creation and the unwillingness of Aspen's shareholders to take a stand, make it impractical at this time for Aspen shareholders to realize the compelling value of our offer, which as of the close of trading last Friday was equal to $49.60 per Aspen common share."

"While the strategic and financial benefits of Endurance's proposed transaction are plainly evident, our management and board of directors recognize the importance of being responsible custodians of our own shareholders' capital.  As we have for the past year, we will continue to focus on the successful execution of our business plan and the accretion of value for our shareholders,” Charman concludes.

Endurance has instructed the exchange agent for the exchange offer to promptly return all Aspen common shares to tendering shareholders.

Aspen's CEO, Chris O’Kane, comments on the withdrawal of the offer: “We thank our shareholders for their input, our valued customers and brokers for their loyalty and business, and especially thank our employees for their hard work, focus and ongoing dedication to the highest levels of service in our industry. We remain intensely focused on the continued successful execution of our strategic plan, building value for our shareholders and serving our customers.”