(Bloomberg) --Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. is telling prospective investors it expects to price its initial public offering at $30 per share, the midpoint of its price range, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Bermuda-based reinsurer's IPO, consisting of 11 million shares offered by its backer Apollo Global Management, is being marketed for $29 to $31 apiece, according to its filings. The offering was well oversubscribed heading into the debut, Bloomberg News has reported.
Deliberations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public. A representative for Aspen declined to comment. A spokesperson for Apollo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
At $30 per share, Aspen's IPO would raise about $330 million based on the number of shares that have been marketed, according to Bloomberg calculations.
The offering, along with an IPO from Florida-based home insurer American Integrity Insurance Group Inc., represents a modest revival in first-time share sales after President Donald Trump's tariff announcement on April 2 left several US IPO hopefuls in limbo. China's Chagee Holdings Ltd. was the only sizable US listing in the barren stretch since SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc. raised $810 million early last month.
Read More: Warm Reception For Insurers Reopening the IPO Spigot
Trump's Liberation Day delivered a jolt of volatility to stocks, with the VIX Index soaring and bringing dealmaking to a crashing halt. But the tariff uncertainty that dissuaded numerous IPO candidates from going ahead is less likely to impact insurers, not least because they don't sell physical goods.
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In insurance, there's a shortage of capacity for underwriting amid the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, causing rising policy premiums. Some insurers are facing mark-to-market losses on their bond-heavy investment portfolios, yet investors may be willing to look past short-term declines given these companies often hold bonds until they mature.
Aspen had net income of $486.1 million on revenue of $3.26 billion for 2024, compared with net income of $534.7 million on revenue of $2.97 billion from a year earlier, according to its latest
The share sale is expected to reduce Apollo's stake to 86.7% from 99.8%, the filing shows. The private equity firm took the then-struggling insurer private in a $2.6 billion deal completed in 2019.
Aspen's roadshow highlighted the company's attractive double-digit return on equity and underwriting profitability, as it has reduced its exposure to reinsurance and property catastrophe risks in recent years under Mark Cloutier, the former Brit Group chief executive officer who joined the company when Apollo took over.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. are leading the deal, which includes 13 other underwriters. The shares are expected to begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AHL.
