Bermuda's Endurance to be bought by Sompo Japan for $6.3bn

Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance (Sompo) has agreed to acquire Bermuda-based re/insurer, Endurance Specialty Holdings in a $6.3 billion deal.

Sompo said that it was looking to diversify away from the domestic market in Japan through the purchase, adding that the acquisition is friendly and has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Endurance.

The company said that for its overseas insurance business it is pursuing a “drastic expansion of its scale and earnings through organic growth and disciplined M&A both in developed and emerging countries.”

Sompo described Endurance as being a specialty insurance group with an experienced management team with a strong track record as well as an underwriting team with superior insurance underwriting techniques.

The deal is for 100 percent of the outstanding ordinary shares of Endurance, at $93 per ordinary share, and according to Sompo is the largest acquisition to date by the company. It is expected to be completed by March 2017.

Endurance would become the latest mid-tier Bermuda player to either be acquired by a larger company or look for scale through a merger or acquisition throughout ongoing tough market conditions for reinsurers.

In the past, Endurance failed to acquire Aspen in 2014 before buying Montpelier Re in 2015 in a $1.8 billion deal.