Sirius closes merger agreement

A merger agreement involving Sirius International Insurance Group Ltd., which sells reinsurance in Canada, has closed.

Bermuda-based Sirius started trading Monday on the NASDAQ. Sirius America Insurance Company sells reinsurance through a Toronto office. In Canada, the firm had net premiums earned of $3.9 million in 2017, according to the Canadian Underwriter Statistical Guide.

Sirius International announced June 25 a merger agreement with Easterly Acquisition Corp. That agreement has now closed, the companies said Monday.

Until 2016, Sirius was owned by White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. Sirius was sold that year to Singapore-based CM International Holding Pte. Ltd., the investment arm of China Minsheng Investment Corp. Ltd.

Sirius said Monday that several independent directors have joined the company’s corporate board. Among them are Sandy Frucher, who served more than 20 years ago as executive vice president of development of Olympia and York, a real estate developer run by the Montreal’s Reichmann brothers.

Also new to the Sirius board is author Jim Rogers, whose books include Investment Biker and Adventure Capitalist.

The other new board members are: Rob Friedman, a private investor and former chief investment officer of the Mutual Series group of funds; Alain Karaoglan, former chief operating officer of Voya Financial Inc.; and Rachelle Keller, a former managing director of Citibank NA.

As part of the merger, Easterly shareholders got .609 Sirius Group shares for each share of Easterly that they owned. Easterly has ceased trading on the NASDAQ.

Sirius “has a solid business profile as an established midsize global reinsurer,” A.M. Best Company Inc. said in a release in 2018, adding that the carrier “benefits from good diversification by line of business and geographically, with strong global market access through branch offices, subsidiaries, long-standing client relationships and a Lloyd’s syndicate.”