PARTNERRE
LTD.
Wellesley
House South
90 Pitts
Bay Road
Pembroke
HM 08, Bermuda
PartnerRe
Ltd. Announces that the Proposed Amendment to the Procedures for the Election,
Disqualification and Removal of Directors (Proposal 6E at its May 22, 2009
Annual General Meeting of Shareholders) Will Not be Presented for Shareholder
Approval
Any
Proxy Granted For or Against Proposal 6E Will Not be Counted But That Will Not
Affect its Validity With Respect to Other Matters to be Voted Upon
PartnerRe
Ltd. also Announces a Modification to the Proposed Amendment relating to the
Notice of General Meetings (Part of Proposal 6F at its May 22, 2009 Annual
General Meeting of Shareholders)
Any
Proxy Already Granted For or Against Proposal 6F and Not Subsequently Changed
Will be Deemed a Vote in Favor or Against the Modified Proposal 6F Described
Herein
The
Proposed Amendments to the Bye-Laws (Proposals 6A-6D and 6F) Remain Conditioned
on the Approval of All such Proposals for their Effectiveness
PARTNERRE’S
BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONTINUES TO RECOMMEND THAT SHAREHOLDERS VOTE “FOR” ALL
PROPOSALS TO BE SUBMITTED TO SHAREHOLDERS AT THE MAY 22, 2009 ANNUAL
MEETING
Reference is made to the Proxy
Statement of PartnerRe Ltd. (the “Company”), dated April 10,
2009, including the Notice of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, dated
April 10, 2009 (the “Proxy
Notice”) included therein (together, the “Proxy Statement”), with
respect to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company to be held
on May 22, 2009 (the “General
Meeting”), the Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials which
was mailed to Shareholders on April 10, 2009 (the “Internet Notice”) and the
Proxy Card of the Company with respect to the General Meeting.
This notice is to advise Shareholders
of changes affecting Proposals 6E and 6F set forth in the Proxy Statement, the
Internet Notice and the Proxy Card. You should read the information
contained in this notice together with the Proxy Statement, the Internet Notice
and the Proxy Card. To the extent of any conflict between this notice
and the Proxy Statement, the Internet Notice and the Proxy Card, this notice
supersedes and replaces such other documents.
Proposal 6E: Election,
disqualification and removal of Directors
The Company’s Board of Directors (the
“Board”) has determined
not to include Proposal 6E as one of the proposals to be voted on by
Shareholders at the General Meeting. The Company’s current Bye-Laws
(the “Current Bye-Laws”)
allow Shareholders to remove Directors at a special general meeting called for
that purpose. The amended and restated Bye-Laws of the Company (the
“Amended Bye-Laws”),
through Proposal 6E, allow Shareholders to remove Directors only at a special
general meeting and for cause. In addition, the Current Bye-Laws set
out several events that mandate the disqualification of a Director, including
bankruptcy and unsound mental health. The Amended Bye-Laws, through
Proposal 6E, provide two additional disqualification events: (i) an unexcused
absence from Board meetings for six consecutive months; and (ii) the written
request of at least three-fourths of the other Directors after notice and
opportunity to be heard. The Company has determined not to limit
removal of Directors only to cause and not to provide the Board with these two
additional disqualification events, and is therefore removing Proposal 6E from
proposals to be voted on at the General Meeting. Accordingly,
Shareholders will now only vote on Proposals 6A through 6D and 6F (modified as
described under “Proposal 6F: Other changes to the Bye-Laws” below) at the
General Meeting. These proposals (6A through 6D and 6F) remain
cross-conditioned to each other such that the failure to approve any one of them
will lead to none of the other four proposals being adopted.
Proposal 6F: Other changes
to the Bye-Laws
The Board has also determined not to
change the minimum notice periods for calling annual general meetings and
special general meetings. The Current Bye-Laws provide that an annual
general meeting may be called with not less than thirty (30) days’ notice and a
special general meeting may be called with not less than seven (7) days’
notice. The Amended Bye-Laws, through Proposal 6F, provide that
either an annual general meeting or a special general meeting may be called with
not less than ten (10) days’ notice. The Board has determined that it
should not change the minimum notice period of either general meeting to ten
(10) days and should retain the current thirty (30) day and seven (7) day
minimum notice periods for calling an annual general meeting and a special
general meeting, respectively; and is therefore removing any changes in Proposal
6F with respect
to
minimum notice periods for general meetings. All other amendments
contained in Proposal 6F as described in the Proxy Statement remain
unchanged.
Resulting changes to the
Amended Bye-Laws
As a result of eliminating Proposal 6E
from the proposals to be voted on by Shareholders and modifying Proposal 6F, the
following changes would be made to the Amended Bye-Laws set forth in Appendix V
of the Proxy Statement in the event that Proposals 6A through 6D and 6F are
approved by the requisite number of Shareholders:
·
|
The
definition of “Cause” in Bye-Law 1.1 would be
deleted.
|
·
|
Bye-Law
19.1 would be replaced with the following (deletions are shown in
strikethrough and additions are shown in
underline):
|
19.1 An
Annual General Meeting shall
be called by not less than thirty (30) days
notice in writing and
or
a Special
General Meeting shall be called by not less than seven
ten
(710)
days, and, in either
case,
not more than ninety (90) days, notice in writing. The
notice shall be exclusive of the day on which it is served or deemed to be
served and of the day for which it is given, and shall specify the
place,
day and time of the meeting, and the nature of the business to be considered.
Notice of every general meeting shall be given in any manner permitted by these
Bye-Laws to all Shareholders other
than such as, under the provisions of these Bye-Laws or the terms
of issue of the Shares they hold, are not entitled to receive such notice from
the Company, and to every Director, and to any Resident Representative who or
which has delivered a written notice upon the Registered Office requiring that
such notice be sent
to him or it.
·
|
Bye-Law 24.8 would be replaced
with the following (deletions are shown in
strikethrough):
|
24.8 The Company may in a Special General
Meeting called for that purpose remove a Director for
Cause, provided notice of
any such meeting shall be
served upon the Director concerned not less than fourteen (14) days before the
meeting and he shall be entitled to be heard at that
meeting.
·
|
Bye-Law
25.1 would be replaced with the following (deletions are shown in
strikethrough and additions are shown in
underline):
|
25.1 The
office of a Director shall be vacated upon the happening of any of the following
events:
25.1.1 if
he resigns his office by notice in writing delivered to the Registered Office or
tendered at a meeting of the Board;
25.1.2 if
he does not stand for re-election upon the expiration of his term;
25.1.3 if
he becomes of unsound mind or a patient for any purpose of any statute or
applicable law relating to mental health and the Board resolves that his office
is vacated;
25.1.4 if
he becomes bankrupt under the laws of any country or compounds with his
creditors;
25.1.5 if
he is prohibited by law from being a Director; or
25.1.6 if
he ceases to be a Director by virtue of the Companies Acts or these Bye-Laws or
is removed from office pursuant to Bye-Law 24.8;
25.1.7 if he shall for more than
six (6) consecutive months have been absent without permission of the Board from
meetings of the Board held during that period and his Alternate Director (if
any) shall not during such period have attended in his stead and the Board
resolves that his office be vacated; or
25.1.8 if he is requested to
resign in writing by not less than three quarters of the other Directors after
notice and opportunity to be heard by the Directors. In calculating
the number of Directors who are required to make such a request to the Director,
there shall be excluded any Alternate Director appointed by him acting in his
capacity as such.
* * *
Any Proxy Card (used by any Internet,
telephone or mail vote) which has already been or may be voted in favor or
against Proposal 6E shall not be counted as to Proposal 6E but shall remain
valid as to each other proposal or matter to be voted upon at the meeting unless
revoked or changed by a later dated Proxy Card. Any Proxy Card (used
by any Internet, telephone or mail vote) which has already been or may be voted
in favor or against Proposal 6F shall now be deemed a vote in favor or against
the modified Proposal 6F described under “Proposal 6F: Other changes to the
Bye-Laws” above.
If you have already voted and wish to
change your vote on any of the six proposals, you may do so via any of the
methods listed in the “Frequently Asked
Questions” section and on
pages 2 to 3 of the Proxy Statement, under the question “CAN I CHANGE MY MIND
AFTER I VOTE?”
Pembroke,
Bermuda
May 14,
2009