Wellington Underwriting has agreed to sell 6m shares in Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings for a total of $138.6m.

The sale at a price of $23.10 per share is being made in conjunction with Aspen's primary offering of $200m worth of new shares.

Wellington said it plans to invest the proceeds in funds at Lloyd's to support Wellington's underwriting operations at Lloyd's.

Following the sale, Wellington will hold 3.8m Aspen shares, with options to purchase a further 3.8m, which together represent about 7.8% of Aspen's capital.

Wellington and some other Aspen shareholders have agreed with the underwriters not to dispose of any further Aspen shares for up to 60 days following the date of the offering.