HIGH COURT SANCTIONS PART VII TRANSFER FROM RUXLEY UNIT TO BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY

The English High Court has approved a transfer of insurance and reinsurance business from Aviation & General Insurance Co (A&G), a subsidiary of run-off buyout specialist Ruxley Ventures, to Berkshire Hathaway unit Tenecom Ltd. The risks to be transferred comprise mainly those underwritten between 1991 and 1993 as part of the British Aviation Insurance Group Pool, as well as risks written by Pearl Assurance at the same time. These risks were transferred to Aviation & General in May 2004. The Part VII transfer also includes risks underwritten by A&G through its German branch. Ruxley took over A&G in October 2003. From 1983 until it went into run-off in 1993 A&G conducted its business through two aviation pools. The other pool participants – Prudential and Pearl – agreed to transfer their pool participations to A&G. The transfers were executed under Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and were sanctioned by the High Court in May 2004. Ruxley then compiled a scheme of arrangement. This was sanctioned by the English High Court in July 2004 and was completed in March 2005. Ruxley Ventures CEO John Winter said that "the decision by the High Court marks the latest stage of our strategy for closing out all Aviation & General's liabilities and follows close on the heels of the recent transfer of A&G's Canadian branch liabilities. We have been conscious of the needs of policyholders throughout and are very pleased to have been able to work productively with Tenecom in creating a positive solution".