HAMILTON, Bermuda. - Monday, May 18th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

 (BUSINESS WIRE)- Arch Reinsurance Ltd. (Arch) announced today that its acquisition of Gulf Reinsurance Ltd. (Gulf Re), a specialty reinsurer based in the Dubai International Financial Centre, has been completed. Gulf Re was founded jointly by Arch and the Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) in 2008. In 2014, Arch and the GIC signed an agreement whereby Arch would acquire 100% ownership of Gulf Re. The agreement provides that, among other things, Arch will acquire all of Gulf Re Holdings Limited (Gulf Holdings), which is the parent of Gulf Re, through a reduction in the share capital of Gulf Holdings and Arch’s purchase of 50% of Gulf Holdings from the GIC.

With the closing of the acquisition and the placement of a 90% whole account quota share retrocession arrangement of Gulf Re’s net liabilities and a loss portfolio transfer of all of its existing business with Arch effective as of October 1, 2014, Gulf Re is strongly positioned for opportunities in the marketplace. Gulf Re will continue to provide treaty reinsurance and specialty reinsurance lines with a focus on energy and utility assets primarily in the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including the MENA Region.

GIC will continue to have representation on the Board of Directors of Gulf Re, as well as an ongoing 50% economic interest in the results of Gulf Re.

About Arch Reinsurance Ltd.

Arch Reinsurance Ltd. is a member of Arch Capital Group Ltd., a Bermuda-based company that provides insurance and reinsurance on a worldwide basis through its wholly owned subsidiaries. For more information, visit www.archcapgroup.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward−looking statements. This release or any other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Arch Capital Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries may include forward−looking statements, which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in or incorporated by reference in this release are forward−looking statements.

Forward−looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward−looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or their negative or variations or similar terminology. Forward−looking statements involve our current assessment of risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. A non-exclusive list of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements includes the following: adverse general economic and market conditions; increased competition; pricing and policy term trends; fluctuations in the actions of rating agencies and our ability to maintain and improve our ratings; investment performance; the loss of key personnel; the adequacy of our loss reserves, severity and/or frequency of losses, greater than expected loss ratios and adverse development on claim and/or claim expense liabilities; greater frequency or severity of unpredictable natural and man-made catastrophic events; the impact of acts of terrorism and acts of war; changes in regulations and/or tax laws in the United States or elsewhere; our ability to successfully integrate, establish and maintain operating procedures as well as integrate the businesses we have acquired or may acquire into the existing operations; changes in accounting principles or policies; material differences between actual and expected assessments for guaranty funds and mandatory pooling arrangements; availability and cost to us of reinsurance to manage our gross and net exposures; the failure of others to meet their obligations to us; and other factors identified in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The foregoing review of important factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with other cautionary statements that are included herein or elsewhere. All subsequent written and oral forward−looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward−looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts

Arch Capital Group Ltd.

Mark D. Lyons, 441-278-9250

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