Axis chief Benchimol says PartnerRe merger ‘in excellent shape’

Axis chief executive Albert Benchimol has said that the upcoming merger with PartnerRe is in “excellent shape”.

Speaking in a joint interview with PartnerRe chairman Jean-Paul Montupet conducted by AM Best, Benchimol said: “This new company will provide greater financial strength, expense savings, capital efficiencies and a fuller complement of products and geographies.”

Montupet also hailed the possibilities of the merger.

He said: “This merger will create a new company that is ideally positioned to face the challenges and benefit from the opportunities, which will appear in the insurance and reinsurance industries for many years.

“This new company will allow PartnerRe Ltd to implement the strategy that we were pursuing prior to the merger, as we were moving from a pure play reinsurance business into a primary insurance business.”

Montupet added that the Exor offer “clearly undervalues PartnerRe” and that it would be “imprudent” for PartnerRe shareholders to take Exor’s offer.