Reinsurance company Transatlantic Holdings Inc. said on Thursday it sued its unsolicited suitor Validus Holdings Ltd. and rejected its offer as “inferior and highly conditional,” Reuters reports.
Transatlantic also established a poison-pill plan to keep anyone from taking control of the company in the open market. The plan lasts for a year and has a 10 percent ownership threshold.
Transatlantic and Swiss insurer Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings Ltd. agreed to a friendly all-stock deal in June. A month later Validus made its cash-and-stock offer. While both bids are currently at a discount to Transatlantic’s stock price, the Validus discount is smaller.
At one point Transatlantic said Validus’s offer could potentially lead to a superior proposal, but the two sides were unable to come to terms on a confidentiality agreement and Validus took its offer directly to shareholders.
Transatlantic said it sued Validus in federal court in Delaware, alleging it made “false and misleading statements” to shareholders in its proxy and tender materials.
A Validus spokesman was not immediately available to comment.
