HAMILTON, Bermuda, July 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM) announced today that it is reorganizing its reinsurance business by converting its Bermuda reinsurance operations into a branch of White Mountains Re Sirius. Warren Trace, currently President and CEO of White Mountains Re Bermuda, will remain in charge of the Bermuda branch operations, reporting to Goran Thorstensson, President and CEO of Sirius. The reorganization is expected to be effective on September 1, 2009 following receipt of required regulatory approvals.
Allan Waters, President and CEO of White Mountains Re, said, "This reorganization keeps our successful Bermuda reinsurance team in place while bringing the security of the whole Sirius balance sheet to our clients in Bermuda. Our team is excited about the new structure and looks forward to continuing our strong relationships with all our brokers and clients."
White Mountains Re will contribute in excess of $200 million of capital to Sirius, which will have in excess of $1.6 billion of regulatory capital on a pro forma basis as of June 30, 2009. In addition, approximately $400 million of capital will be upstreamed to the White Mountains Re and White Mountains holding companies.
White Mountains Reinsurance Company of America will remain under the direction of Dwight Evans as President and CEO. The White Mountains Re America underwriting platform and regulatory capitalization, which approximated $750 million as of June 30, 2009, will not be affected by the reorganization.
Additional Information
White Mountains is a Bermuda-domiciled financial services holding company traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Bermuda Stock Exchange under the symbol WTM. Additional financial information and other items of interest are available at the Company's web site located at www.whitemountains.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included or referenced in this release which address activities, events or developments which we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. The words "will," "believe," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "predict" and similar expressions are also intended to identify forward-looking statements.
