Orascom Inv Regulatory News (OIH)

4 Dec 2007 12:00

Omega Insurance Holdings Limited04 December 2007 OMEGA INSURANCE HOLDINGS LIMITED A.M. Best Rates Omega US A- (excellent) Omega Insurance Holdings Limited, the international insurance and reinsurancegroup based in Bermuda, announces that A.M. Best has assigned Omega USInsurance, Inc. a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and an issuercredit rating of"a-". On announcing the ratings A.M.Best said: "The ratings reflect Omega US'conservative business plan, experienced management team and the benefits ofhaving a strong balance sheet that is unencumbered by prior year reserveliabilities. Additionally, the ratings reflect the benefits derived from being asubsidiary of Omega Insurance Holdings Limited, a publicly traded holdingcompany for businesses in Bermuda, United States, London and Germany that focuson predominantly short-tail property insurance and reinsurance" Enquiries: John Coles, Threadneedle Communications +44 (0)20 7936 9604 Notes to Editors Omega became the new holding company of the Omega group on 9 November 2006 when the scheme of arrangement of Omega Underwriting Holdings PLC (the Omega group's previous holding company and now wholly-owned by Omega) ("OUH") became effective. On the same day the common shares of Omega were admitted to trading on AIM, the admission of OUH's shares to trading on AIM was cancelled and OUH was re-registered as a private limited liability company. The Omega group, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Omega Underwriting Agents Limited, acts as a Lloyd's managing agent for Syndicate 958 and in February 2006established a new insurance and reinsurance business, Omega Specialty Insurance Company Limited ("Omega Specialty"), based in Bermuda. In September 2006 Omega incorporated a new subsidiary, Omega US Insurance, Inc. ("Omega US Insurance"), in Delaware which is held under a Delaware incorporated intermediate holding company Omega US Holdings, Inc.. • Syndicate 958 Syndicate 958 had a capacity for the 2006 year of account of £249 million and capacity for the 2007 year of account has been increased to £274 million. The Syndicate has made an underwriting profit in every closed year of account since its inception in the 1980 year of account. The Syndicate has focused predominantly on short-tail property insurance and reinsurance, insuring small to medium sized insureds and reinsuring the smaller insurance companies. The Syndicate's financial strength rating from A.M. Best Company, Inc. of "A" (Excellent) and an Issuer Credit Rating of "a+" (Excellent) were reaffirmed on 21 May 2007. • Omega Specialty Omega Specialty is authorised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority as a Class 3 insurer, underwriting its targeted classes of insurance and reinsurance, key in which are non-marine property insurance, professional indemnity insurance, property catastrophe treaty reinsurance and property per risk treaty reinsurance. Omega Specialty's financial strength rating from A.M. Best Company, Inc. of "A-" (Excellent) was reaffirmed on 21 May 2007. • Omega US Insurance Omega US Insurance is authorised as an admitted insurer in Delaware and will underwrite on a surplus lines basis in all other US States once it has been granted the requisite eligibility in each US State. Omega US Insurance is currently eligible to write surplus lines business in 16 US states. It is capitalised at US$50 million from the net proceeds of a share placing by OUH in October 2006. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange