Decision day for shareholders on the planned merger of Max Capital and IPC Holdings will be June 12.

The two Bermuda re/insurers announced yesterday that they would hold simultaneous special meetings, starting at 11 a.m., at which their shareholders will vote on the amalgamation plan.

The companies said their joint proxy statement had been declared effective by declared effective by US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission. The prospectus was mailed out to shareholders of both companies yesterday.

Another Bermuda reinsurer, Validus Holdings, has made a $1.6 billion takeover offer for IPC, which has been rejected by the IPC board.

Validus is now lobbying IPC shareholders to vote against the merger.

The boards of both IPC and Max are uring their shareholders to vote in favour of the merger.