Share Transactions

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Share Transactions

Share Transactions

3.       Share Transactions

Three-for-One Share Split

In May 2011, shareholders approved a proposal to amend the memorandum of association by sub-dividing the authorized common shares of ACGL to effect a three-for-one split of ACGL's common shares. The share split changed the Company's authorized common shares to 600 million common shares (200 million previously) with a par value of $0.0033 per share ($0.01 previously). Information pertaining to the composition of the Company's shareholders' equity accounts, shares and earnings per share has been retroactively adjusted in the accompanying financial statements and notes to the consolidated financial statements to reflect the share split.

Share Repurchases

The board of directors of ACGL has authorized the investment in ACGL's common shares through a share repurchase program. Repurchases under the program may be effected from time to time in open market or privately negotiated transactions through December 2012. Since the inception of the share repurchase program, ACGL has repurchased approximately 104.8 million common shares for an aggregate purchase price of $2.56 billion. During the 2011 third quarter, ACGL repurchased 0.7 million common shares for an aggregate purchase price of $20.8 million, compared to 2.0 million common shares for an aggregate purchase price of $53.4 million during the 2010 third quarter. For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, ACGL repurchased 9.6 million common shares for an aggregate purchase price of $287.6 million, compared to 20.6 million common shares for an aggregate purchase price of $503.7 million for the 2010 period.

At September 30, 2011, $942.0 million of share repurchases were available under the program. The timing and amount of the repurchase transactions under this program will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions and corporate and regulatory considerations.