Exor in new talks with Covea over scrapped $9bn sale of PartnerRE - report
23/10/2021 10:42
MILAN, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Exor EXOR.MI , the holding
company of Italy's Agnelli family, has restarted talks with
French insurer Covea over a possible sale of reinsurer PrtnerRE,
Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday, after the deal was scrapped
last year due to the pandemic.
Talks have resumed in the recent weeks, the daily newspaper
said, citing several unidentified sources.
Exor and Covea were discussing a valuation for Bermuda-based
PartnerRE which was "close" to the one agreed as part of their
original deal, one of the sources said.
Covea last year walked away from its planned purchase of
100% Exor-owned PartnerRe for $9 billion in cash, saying it
could no longer buy it under the terms of their agreement, which
was signed before the coronavirus pandemic.
Exor declined to comment on the report, while privately held
Covea was not immediately available for comment.
Under the original terms of the agreement with Covea, Exor
would have received an aggregate cash return of $3 billion from
its purchase and disposal of PartnerRE, including dividends paid
by the reinsurer since 2016, Exor had said.
After the deal collapsed, Covea agreed to invest 1.5 billion
euros ($1.75 billion) in entities managed by PartnerRE and in
undisclosed investments related to Exor, in a bid to normalise
relations between the two companies. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2F55HL
It is not known how long revived talks could last and
whether a transaction would be eventually agreed, Il Sole 24 Ore
said.
($1 = 0.8593 euros)
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Additional reporting by
Jean-Stephane Brosse in Paris; Editing by Mike Harrison)
((giulio.piovaccari@thomsonreuters.com))