IRB Brasil Re replaces senior leaders after Buffett’s Berkshire denies investment

Brazil's major reinsurer IRB Brasil Resseguros SA replaced its president and finance chief after its shares plummeted and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway denied investing in the company.

On March 3, Buffett’s Berkshire denied media reports about its ownership stake in IRB, saying that it has never been and does not intend to become a shareholder in IRB.

"There have been recent stories in the Brazilian press that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a shareholder of IRB Brasil Re. Those stories are incorrect," Berkshire said in the statement. "Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is not currently a shareholder of IRB, it has never been a shareholder of IRB and it has no intention of becoming a shareholder of IRB."

According to a Bloomberg report, IRB shares have since plummeted by 41 percent in Sao Paulo, the lowest intraday level since July 2018.

Meanwhile, IRB announced that its president José Carlos Cardoso, and finance and investor relations executive vice president Fernando Passos, submitted their resignation to the board on March 4.

Werner Süffert, a former member of the board of directors at IRB Brasil Re and former CFO and IRO of BB Seguridade, has been appointed to take over as finance and investor relations executive vice president.

Süffert will also serve as interim president until a new executive is appointed.

IRB also announced that it would launch an "investigation to identify the exact circumstances of the disclosure" of information by the company relating to its stock base.