Allied World Remains Fully Committed to Terms of Merger of Equals with Transatlantic

Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG AWH today affirmed that it remains fully committed to the terms of the merger with Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. TRH, which it believes provides the best value for all shareholders and the best prospects for long-term growth. Allied World Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Scott Carmilani, stated, “The TransAllied merger provides significant financial and strategic benefits and the best long-term value for shareholders of both of our companies. Our transaction fully satisfies the key strategic goals outlined by Transatlantic with greater certainty. We believe that Validus' proposal is inferior. It cannot provide Transatlantic's shareholders with the same value that our merger of equals can. Validus' unsolicited proposal is an attempt to acquire Transatlantic at a significant discount to book value. In addition, the needed reduction to Transatlantic's property catastrophe business in the inferior Validus takeover to a level compliant with Transatlantic's enterprise risk management risk tolerances would lead to limited property catastrophe writing flexibility.”