3.	ACQUISITIONS

Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, Ltd ("Allied World Bermuda") entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger (the "Merger Agreement") on June 27, 2008 with Allied World Merger Company, a Delaware corporation and an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company ("Merger Sub"), and Darwin, a Delaware corporation. The Merger Agreement provided for the merger of Merger Sub with and into Darwin, with Darwin continuing as the surviving corporation and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Allied World Bermuda. Darwin is a holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in the executive and professional liability insurance business with an emphasis on coverage for the healthcare industry. The transaction was completed on October 20, 2008 and has been accounted for as a purchase. Under the purchase method of accounting for a business combination, the assets and liabilities of Darwin were recorded at their fair values on the acquisition date.

The total cash consideration paid by the Company was $558,755, including direct costs of the acquisition of $8,478. There was no contingent consideration related to this acquisition.

The following table shows the fair value of the separately identifiable intangible assets at the time of acquisition and the period over which each intangible asset will be amortized, if applicable.


	Intangible Assets
	Fair Value		Amortization Period
Renewal rights	$	38,000		15 years
Trademarks		7,400		15 years
Internally developed software		1,600		3 years
Non-compete covenants		1,200		2 years
Insurance licenses		8,000		N/A

	$	56,200

The intangible assets that are subject to amortization had a weighted average useful life of 14.3 years at the time of the acquisition. The insurance licenses have been determined to have indefinite useful lives and as such are not amortizable.

The $264,615 of goodwill has been allocated to the U.S. insurance segment as Darwin is fully integrated with the Company's U.S. insurance segment. We do not expect any amount of the goodwill to be deductible for tax purposes.