Swiss Re Completes Repurchase of 50% of GE Shares

Swiss Re announced that it has completed the repurchase of more than 16 million shares, approximately 50 percent of General Electric’s stake in Swiss Re, for CHF 102.96 ($84.87) per share. Swiss Re announced plans to repurchase the shares last week (See IJ web site March 1).

“The purchase price was calculated at a one percent discount to the price which General Electric achieved today in the accelerated bookbuilding at which it sold the remainder of its stake in Swiss Re,” the bulletin noted.

The share re-purchase from General Electric was the first step of a share buy-back program of up to CHF 6 billion [$4.95 billion]. Swiss Re announced the plan at the same time it released its annual results for 2006. Swiss Re plans to buy-back the remainder of up to CHF 4 billion ($3.3 billion) over the next three years.

Swiss Re said it “plans to propose to its upcoming Annual General Meeting the cancellation of a corresponding amount of capital” to fund the repurchases.