AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. has completed its previously announced $2.95 billion merger deal with Evergreen Parent L.P., which will see the company go private.
Evergreen is an entity formed by private equity funds managed by Stone Point Capital LLC, together with Barry Zyskind, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AmTrust, George Karfunkel and Leah Karfunkel.
The transaction was completed after AmTrust yesterday received all necessary regulatory approvals to go ahead with the deal.
Evergreen acquired the 45% of AmTrust’s shares not already owned by Stone Point and the Karfunkel-Zyskind Family for a price of $14.75 per share.
The deal valued the fully diluted equity of AmTrust at approximately $2.95 billion, excluding outstanding preferred stock.
Stone Point and the Karfunkel-Zyskind Family originally proposed to acquire AmTrust’s remaining shares in January 2018 for a price of $12.25 per share, but raised their offer first to $13.50 per share in March and later to $14.75 per share in June.
Trading in AmTrust’s common stock has been suspended following the completion of the deal, and it has been delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market.
The parties explained that the transaction constituted a “make-whole fundamental change” under the indentures relating to AmTrust’s outstanding convertible notes.
Barry Zyskind, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AmTrust, commented: “We are excited to enter this new chapter for AmTrust, and are fully focused on deepening the meaningful relationships we have with our agents, brokers, and customers.”
“We are committed to continuing to offer consistent and outstanding service in our markets,” he continued. “As we celebrate the 20th year since our founding, we are positioning AmTrust to remain a financially strong, stable insurance products and risk services partner.”
Jim Carey, Senior Principal of Stone Point Capital, added: “Stone Point is looking forward to working with the AmTrust leadership team, providing support and guidance, as the Company executes on its strategies to deliver outstanding customer service, long-term profitable growth, and operational excellence.”
