Bermuda-based Enstar Group Ltd. and Oceania Holdings Ltd, its wholly-owned subsidiary, have announced the closing of the acquisition of Inter-Ocean Holdings Ltd.

The total purchase price was approximately $57 million, according to a report on PRNewswire. It was funded with available cash on hand and the incurrence of approximately $26.8 million in new bank debt.

Inter-Ocean owns two reinsurers, one based in Bermuda and one based in Ireland. Both companies wrote international reinsurance and had in place retrocessional policies providing for the full reinsurance of all of the risks they assumed.

In April 2005, the board of directors of Inter-Ocean decided to have both companies cease underwriting new business and placed them into run-off. Enstar has been providing management services to Inter-Ocean for approximately 13 months.

Enstar, a Bermuda company, acquires and manages insurance and reinsurance companies in run-off and provides management, consultancy and other services to the insurance and reinsurance industry.