RICHMOND, Va., May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Markel
Corporation ("Markel") (NYSE: MKL) announced today that it has
completed its acquisition of Alterra Capital Holdings Limited
("Alterra") (NASDAQ: ALTE; BSX: ALTE.BH). The closing follows
receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals and votes in favor of
the transaction by the shareholders of the two companies in
February.
Alan I. Kirshner, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Markel, commented: "As we have
said from the outset, we believe the combination of Alterra with
Markel will create a strong company in global specialty insurance
and investments, with a demonstrated track record of underwriting
discipline in niche market segments and proven asset management
strengths that should benefit all our stakeholders.
"Over the past 83 years, Markel has built its financial and
operating platform on a foundation of talented associates. We
welcome the Alterra underwriting, claims and support teams, who
will expand our product offerings as well as our geographic
reach. With that greater underwriting depth and our enhanced
financial scale, we are confident we will better serve our
customers.
"We will be adding two new businesses for us, Markel Global
Insurance (large commercial accounts) and Markel Global
Reinsurance. They will join our existing Markel Specialty,
Markel Wholesale and Markel International units. We are
committed to all these businesses, which we believe fit well with
our disciplined underwriting approach, on a worldwide basis.
"Markel and Alterra teams have been working diligently on
integration and transition efforts in preparation for today.
For our broker and client partners this should be a seamless
transition—the people you dealt with yesterday are the people you
will deal with today. We look forward to giving our customers
the same service to which they've become accustomed—'scale
enhanced, business as usual.'
"With our enhanced scale, approximately $23 billion in combined assets and $6 billion in shareholders' equity, we believe we
will be well positioned to take advantage of a wide range of
profitable opportunities in insurance and investments."
About Markel Corporation:
Markel Corporation is a
diverse financial holding company serving a variety of niche
markets. The Company's principal business markets and underwrites
specialty insurance products. In each of the Company's
businesses, it seeks to provide quality products and excellent
customer service so that it can be a market leader. The
financial goals of the Company are to earn consistent underwriting
and operating profits and superior investment returns to build
shareholder value. Visit Markel Corporation on the web at
www.markelcorp.com.
Forward Looking Statements:
This release contains
statements concerning or incorporating expectations, assumptions
and other statements that are not historical facts. These
statements are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There are
risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ
materially from predicted results in forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those
predicted are set forth under "Risk Factors" or "Safe Harbor and
Cautionary Statement" in the Company's most recent reports on Forms
10-K and 10-Q. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
SOURCE Markel Corporation