Emmanuel Clarke appointed CEO of PartnerRe

Six days after the completion of its US$6.9-billion takeover by EXOR S.p.A., PartnerRe Ltd. announced Thursday its new chief executive officer is Emmanuel Clarke, a 46-year-old French national who was president of PartnerRe, a Pembroke, Bermuda-based reinsurer and commercial insurance carrier.

Emmanuel Clarke replaces David Zwiener, who was appointed interim CEO in January, 2015

Clarke (pictured right) replaces David Zwiener, who was appointed interim CEO in January, 2015.

Zwiener had replaced Costas Miranthis, who stepped down as PartnerRe CEO when PartnerRe and Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. announced a tentative merger agreement. Had that merger been approved, it would have created a “global top 5 reinsurer,” Axis Capital stated in January, 2015, when Axis Capital and PartnerRe announced their merger proposal.

Like PartnerRe, Pembroke, Bermuda-based Axis Capital also provides reinsurance and commercial specialty lines. Both insurers have Toronto offices.

In April, 2015, EXOR announced an offer to acquire PartnerRe, an offer the PartnerRe board did not initially recommend to its shareholders. But on Aug. 3, after EXOR sweetened its offer several times, PartnerRe’s board recommended shareholders approve the acquisition by EXOR. Until the EXOR acquisition closed, PartnerRe had been traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Turin, Italy-based EXOR also owns a significant minority of Fiat-Chrysler Automobile and CNH Industrial N.V., whose products include power trains and commercial vehicles, as well as farming and construction equipment under the Case and New Holland brands. EXOR is controlled by the Agnelli family.

John Elkann is the new chairman of PartnerRe

EXOR’s chairman and CEO, John Elkann (pictured left, also chairman of Fiat Chrysler) is now chairman of the board of PartnerRe.

Clarke joined PartnerRe in 1997, PartnerRe stated in its annual report for 2015. Clarke’s other appointments included head of specialty lines for PartnerRe Global.

When PartnerRe announced March 18 that EXOR completed the acquisition, the firm announced the other four members of the board. They are Patrick Thiele (CEO of PartnerRe from 2000 until 2010), Brian Dowd (former vice chairman of ACE Ltd.), EXOR managing director Mario Bonaccorso and EXOR chief financial officer Enrico Vellano.