If Axis and PartnerRe realise their merger plans, the combined company will return $750 million to shareholders following the proposed merger.

That number was detailed in an investor presentation filed with US financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This would be in addition to the $560 million special dividend that has already been promised by two Bermuda firms as a sweetener for their shareholders to approve the merger.

By the end of 2017, the combined company expects to return as much as $2.2 billion to shareholders through buy-backs and dividends, equivalent to 100 per cent of operating earnings, according to the presentation.

However, PartnerRe shareholders will need to weigh up whether the proposed merger offers them a better deal than the $6.8 billion all-cash bid from Exor, the investment firm of the Italian Agnelli family.

The two proposals offer different scenarios for Bermuda. An Axis-PartnerRe combination, with the firms targeting $200 million in cost savings, would result in redundancies and the likelihood one of the companies’ offices being vacated. Should Exor succeed, the Italian firm’s public statements would suggest there would be no job losses at PartnerRe.

The companies have been given the green light to schedule special shareholder meetings in connection with the proposed merger. Both meetings will be on July 24.