Arch Capital Group agrees $521 million Coface deal

Natixis SA agreed to sell most of its remaining stake in credit insurer Coface SA to Arch Capital Group in a 480 million-euro (US$521 million) deal that may allow the French lender to return more excess cash to shareholders. Arch Capital, a US specialty and mortgage insurer, will acquire 29.5% of Coface at 10.70 euros a share, Natixis said Tuesday. That’s a discount of 6% to Monday’s closing price. The French bank will keep its remaining 12.2% stake as a financial investment. Natixis took Coface public in 2014, but the shares barely budged from their offering price of 10.40 euros since then. The disposal will result in a goodwill impairment of about 100 million euros in the first quarter, while strengthening a measure of the bank’s capital strength by 35 basis points.