NEW YORK, February 4, 2004—Assurant, Inc. announced today that its initial public offering of 80,000,000 shares of its common stock, to be sold by its selling stockholder, has been priced at $22.00 per share.
The company's shares are scheduled to commence trading on February 5, 2004 on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "AIZ".
Prior to the pricing of this offering, Fortis, Inc. merged with and into the newly established Assurant, Inc. As a result, Assurant, Inc. is domiciled in Delaware and is the successor to the business, operations and obligations of Fortis, Inc. The company will use the name Assurant, Inc.
All of the common stock in the IPO is being sold by the selling stockholder, Fortis Insurance N.V. Assurant will not receive any of the proceeds from the shares being sold.
Morgan Stanley is the sole book running manager for the offering. Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse First Boston and Merrill Lynch & Co. are joint lead underwriters for the offering. Citigroup, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and JPMorgan are senior co-managers for the offering. Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., Cochran, Caronia & Co., Fortis Investment Services LLC, McDonald Investments Inc., Raymond James and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey are junior co-managers for the offering. The selling stockholder has granted the underwriters an option to purchase an additional 12,000,000 shares to cover any over-allotments.
The public offering is being made by means of a final prospectus a copy of which may be obtained from Morgan Stanley Prospectus Department, 1585 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, 212-761-4000.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction where such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.