Bermuda-based reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd.'s purchase of Winterthur Re for $750 million will lead to little cost cutting or job reductions, according to president and CEO Herbert Haag.

He said the deal would help earnings, diversify his firm's property catastrophe reinsurance business and boost its profile in the US.

Reinsurers are under increasing pressure to gain market share or risk losing business to larger rivals. Insurance companies are increasingly giving their business to the world's biggest reinsurers in a search for additional security.

Mr. Haag said, "We have been under-represented in the United States, particularly in the non-life business, and we decided to build the US strategy.'' Winterthur Re "was a good opportunity because the US company has an infrastructure that will complement our own smaller company,'' he said.

PartnerRe's US business wrote about $50 million in premiums in 1997 and was expected to write an additional $80 million to $90 million this year.

Haag said he expected the acquisition of Winterthur Re to boost US premiums to about $250 million.

With the acquisition of Winterthur Re, the Bermuda reinsurer also plans to build its capability for new risk transfer mechanisms, including capital market capabilities in its US business.

"It helps them build critical mass in the United States,'' said Don Watson, an analyst at Standard & Poor's.

In addition to the United States, Winterthur Re has operations in Switzerland, Canada, and Singapore.

But PartnerRe also will expand its product line with the acquisition of Winterthur Re, gaining a stronger presence in life reinsurance, as well as expertise in other specialty lines such as credit and surety.

The genesis of the deal was a conversation about PartnerRe's US strategy with the chief executive of Winterthur earlier this year.