Exor completes PartnerRe sale, bolsters coffers for acquisitions

MILAN (Reuters) – Exor said on Tuesday it had completed the sale of reinsurer PartnerRe to France’s Covea, providing a multibillion-euro warchest for acquisitions for the holding company of Italy’s Agnelli family.

Exor said in a statement it would receive $9.3 billion in cash for the sale of the Bermuda-based firm, a deal that had previously been derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The two parties earlier this year agreed to increase the selling price by around $300 million, from an initial $9 billion, based on PartnerRe’s performance in 2021.

Exor CEO John Elkann said in November Exor would have about 9 billion euros ($9.1 billion) available for investments including in luxury, healthcare and technology industries, once it completed the PartnerRe sale.

Those include the purchase of a 10% stake in French healthcare group Institut Merieux for 833 million euros that Exor announced earlier this month.

Exor, whose main investments include carmakers Stellantis and Ferrari and soccer club Juventus, said on Tuesday that, as previously agreed, it would continue its cooperation with Covea.

($1 = 0.9933 euros)

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)