The Chubb Corp. said its shareholders approved the previously announced $28.3 billion merger agreement with Ace Limited today.
The proposal to approve the merger agreement received support from approximately 98 percent of the votes cast, the insurer said.
In a separate, non-binding vote, 61 percent of shareholders voted no to Chubb CEO John Finnegan’s $80 million golden parachute and packages for other executives.
Upon completion of the merger, Chubb shareholders will receive $62.93 per share in cash and 0.6019 shares of Ace common stock for each share of Chubb common stock.
The merger is subject to certain additional customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals in several jurisdictions. Chubb said it continues to expect the merger to be completed in the first quarter of 2016.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has already given the go-ahead for the transaction.
Upon closing of the transaction, Ace shareholders will own 70 percent of the combined company, and Chubb shareholders will own 30 percent.
The balance sheet’s size and strength will elevate the combined company into the elite group of global P/C insurers. As of December 31, 2014, on an aggregate basis, the combined company had total shareholders’ equity of nearly $46 billion and cash, investments and other assets of $150 billion.
Ace Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg, who will head the combined entity, told analysts yesterday that integration of the two could take two years and that he believes the two staffs will get along.
The combined company will use the Chubb name.
The combined company will be a Swiss company with principal offices in Zurich.
Chubb’s headquarters in Warren, New Jersey, will house a “substantial portion” of the headquarters function for the combined company’s North American Division and Ace will continue to maintain a significant presence in Philadelphia, where its current North American division headquarters is based, according to the insurers.