Max Capital, Harbor Point merge

BERMUDIAN re/insurer Max Capital Group has agreed to merge with Bermudian reinsurer Harbor Point Ltd to form a new company that is to be re-named and -branded as Alterra Capital Holdings.

The deal, deemed by the parties as a merger of equals, will give Harbor Point shareholders a 52% share of the new company and Max Capital shareholders around 48%, as the privately held Harbor Point has a tangible book value of around $1.63bn and Max Capital has a market capitalisation of $1.3bn.

Max chairman and chief executive Marty Becker (pictured) said that Alterra would be “a diversified and balanced global insurance company with much greater scale, capital and financial strength”. Harbor Point president and CEO John Berger said that the new company “will benefit from an exceptionally strong combination of global underwriting platforms and limited operating overlap, and outstanding management and underwriting teams”.

Following the close of the deal, Mr Becker will serve as Alterra’s president and CEO, while Mr Berger will serve as vice-chairman of the board, chair of the board’s underwriting committee and CEO of reinsurance. Harbor Point chairman Michael O’Reilly will serve as non-executive chairman of the board. Mr O’Reilly is the former vice-chairman and chief financial officer of Chubb Corp, the US p/c group from which Harbor Point was spun off in 2005.