Specialty insurer Markel Corp said it will purchase Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd for about $3 billion in cash and stock to diversify into reinsurance.The offer of $31 per share represents a premium of 34 percent to Alterra's closing stock price of $23.15 on Tuesday.Each Alterra common share will be converted into a right to receive 0.04315 Markel common shares plus a cash payment of $10."The addition of Alterra's reinsurance and large account insurance portfolios will serve to diversify and strengthen Markel's current book of specialty insurance business," Markel Vice Chairman Steven Markel said in a statement.
Markel Corporation is a financial holding company serving a range of markets. Shares of MKL remained unchanged at $486.05. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $398.65 and as high as $502.20. On average, 16255 shares of MKL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
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