Converium has completed its initial public offering in Switzerland, and raised a net $1.1bn (£766.9m) for its seller, Zurich Financial Services.
Swiss-based reinsurer Converium has completed its initial public offering in Switzerland, and raised a net $1.1bn (£766.9m) for its seller, Europe's third largest insurer Zurich Financial Services.
In total, 35 million shares, 87.5% of Converium's share capital, were placed at CHF82 (£34.5) each.
The group's American Depositary Shares will be priced at $24.59 and will start trading in New York later today. One ADS is the equivalent of half of a share.
Converium will rank as the world's eighth largest reinsurer, with a market capitalisation of CHF3.28bn (£1.4bn). That should guarantee it a place in Switzerland's blue-chip share index, the SMI.
The spin-off of Converium is part of a shakeup at ZFS which also saw it sell its US funds arm Zurich Scudder Investments to Deutsche Bank in a $2.5bn (£1.7bn) deal.
The company has embarked on a divestment drive to improve its balance sheet and raise cash to improve growth prospects.
