Best Comments on SCOR/Converium

In separate bulletins A.M. Best Co. stated its position on the ratings of France’s SCOR Group and Converium AG following the announcement that SCOR was seeking to take over the Swiss-based reinsurer (See IJ web site Feb. 19).

Best said that its financial strength rating of “B++” (Good) and the issuer credit rating of “bbb+” on Converium and its main subsidiaries “remain unaffected following the announcement of the acquisition of a 32.9 percent stake by SCOR S.A. and the rejected unsolicited proposal to acquire Converium at CHF 21[$16.50] per share.

Concerning its ratings on SCOR and its subsidiaries, Best said they too would remain unchanged following the Group’s announcement that it has acquired 32.9 percent of Converium’s share capital.
Best noted that 24.6 percent of the share acquisition “is pending regulatory approval,” and that Converium’s Board had rejected SCOR’s offer to combine the two companies.

Best said it would “continue to monitor the situation and would review the appropriateness of the current ratings if SCOR “were to launch a public offer. The main analytical focus would be the impact of the transaction on the combined group’s risk-adjusted capitalisation and the potential integration risks.”