Assured Guaranty completes acquisition of MBIA UK Insurance

AGC, a subsidiary of insurer Assured Guaranty, has completed the acquisition of MBIA UK Insurance, and will soon rebrand the company as its subsidiary.

The acquisition will add $13 billion to Assured Guaranty’s insured portfolio, and expand its presence in the European market.

Furthermore, as consideration for the outstanding shares of MBIA UK plus $23 million in cash, AGC has exchanged all its holdings of notes issued in the Zohar transaction. The Zohar notes, as of September 30, 2016, had a total outstanding principal of $347 million.

Dominic Frederico, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Assured Guaranty, said: “We are pleased to have completed our fourth acquisition of a legacy bond insurer, which has further diversified Assured Guaranty’s insured portfolio by adding approximately $13 billion (£10 billion) of predominantly European infrastructure transactions.

“We expect this acquisition to be accretive to Assured Guaranty’s operating earnings per share, operating shareholders’ equity and adjusted book value.”

Nick Proud, CEO of Assured Guaranty Europe, added: “This acquisition significantly expands Assured Guaranty’s presence in the European infrastructure market at a time when we are seeing increasing opportunities and a strong pipeline of transactions.

“It signals our ongoing commitment to the European marketplace and gives MBIA UK bondholders the management resources and surveillance capabilities of an active financial guarantor with proven durability. It is our intention to combine MBIA UK with our European portfolio to create a single balance sheet and rating.”