AmTrust Financial to delist its preference shares citing costs

The board of directors of AmTrust Financial Services has approved the voluntary  delisting of all six series of preferred stock and two series of subordinated notes from the New York Stock Exchange.

The move follows the buyout of its common shares last year in a deal that valued the business at approximately $2.95 billion.

It said the decision to delist and deregister the listed securities was based on its “determination that the administrative costs and burdens associated with maintaining the listings on the NYSE and the registration exceed the benefits given the small number of record holders and low daily trading volume”.

It added: “In addition, this decision was made in light of the company’s new ownership structure and the resulting changes to its long-term strategy, following the completion of AmTrust’s go-private transaction on November 29, 2018 and the delisting of its common stock.”

That deal involved Evergreen Parent acquiring approximately 45 percent of the company’s issued and outstanding common shares that the Karfunkel-Zyskind Family and certain of its affiliates and related parties did not already own or control.

Evergreen Parent is an entity formed by private equity funds managed by Stone Point Capital, together with Barry Zyskind, chairman and CEO of AmTrust, George Karfunkel and Leah Karfunkel.

The company stressed that the Preferred Stock and the Subordinated Notes will continue to remain an outstanding obligation of AmTrust. The Company plans to continue paying quarterly dividends and interest on the Listed Securities consistent with its rights and obligations.

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