ACTIVIST INVESTOR CALLS FOR SALE OF RENRE

RenaissanceRe is facing calls from a long-standing shareholder for a strategic review that will consider the sale of the company. TimesSquare Capital Management, an asset management company that holds a 2% stake in the reinsurer, wrote to RenRe president and chief executive, Kevin O’Donnell, last month to call on the board to “immediately commence a review of strategic alternatives, including an exploration of the sale of the company, to maximise value for shareholders”. In the letter TimesSquare said the benefits of the company’s premier positioning as a standalone reinsurer had not resulted in an improved valuation of the company. The asset management said it believed RenRe could better realise its intrinsic value through a possible sale of the company. “Our opinion is an active competitive sale process for the company should be launched, which would likely yield a significant control premium over the current share price,” the letter said.