AXA Re Sells its Reinsurance Business to Paris Re

On December 21, 2006, AXA Re completed the sale of its worldwide reinsurance business to Paris Re Holdings Limited capitalized at US$1.6 billion. Paris Re Holdings was formed by an investor group led by Trident III, LP (a fund managed by Stone Point Capital LLC, a global private equity firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut) and other leading private equity firms, including Hellman & Friedman, Vestar Capital Partners, Crestview Capital Partners, Och-Ziff Management and New Mountain Capital. In Canada, this transaction involved the establishment of a new Paris Re branch under the Insurance Companies Act (Canada).

With respect to the Canadian portion of the transaction, Paris Re was represented by Torys LLP with a team led by Blair Keefe and Sunny Sodhi (corporate and insurance regulatory); Carolyn Naiman (competition); Phil Mohtadi (Investment Canada); John Unger (tax); and Christina Medland and Tara Sastri (pension and employment). AXA Re was represented by Lang Michener LLP with a team led by Frank Palmay, Robert Cranston and Nika Robinson (corporate and insurance regulatory); James Musgrove (competition) and Kalle Soomer (tax).

Internationally, Paris Re was represented by Dewey Ballantine LLP with a team led by Jeff Liebmann and Jonathan Freedman. AXA Re was represented by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP with a team led by William Torchiana, Olivier de Vilmorin, Joram Lietaert Peerbolte, Jonathan Lehmann and Ashkan Karimi.