Ending a five-month, multiparty bidding war—with Warren Buffett as one of the belligerents—investment holding company Alleghany Corp. recently reached a deal whereby reinsurer Transatlantic would become its independent subsidiary in a $3.4 billion deal.
The battle for Transatlantic began on June 12 when the company and Swiss-based Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings announced a $3.2 billion merger deal that executives said would create a global specialty insurer and reinsurer operating in 18 countries on six continents. But one month later, Bermuda-based Validus Holdings Ltd., led by CEO Edward J. Noonan, made an unsolicited, competing $3.5 billion offer of its own to acquire Transatlantic. The companies sparred throughout July, with Transatlantic filing a lawsuit in Delaware alleging that Validus had made false and misleading statements to Transatlantic's stockholders through tender-offer materials.
In August, yet another player entered the game as Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity Co. put in a competing bid. Validus then filed suit against Transatlantic and the board, arguing that the board had not given sufficient reason for refusing to consider Validus' offer.
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