Novae has decided to close its US direct and facultative re/insurance operations in Bermuda.

The news came as Bermudian insurance and reinsurance group Axis Capital increased its offer to buy Novae.

Novae, a London-based carrier, confirmed the unit’s closure yesterday, after an earlier report in industry publication Insurance Insider.

Novae declined to comment on the jobs impact of the decision. However, the Insider reported that the D&F unit’s team, led by Nik Lucking and including senior assistant underwriter Keerome Maybury and deputy unit head Nick Garside, had been let go.

Last month Novae agreed to be sold to Axis in a transaction worth $604 million. The deal is expected to close later this year.

But yesterday, Axis announced a “full and final offer” for Novae of 715 pence per share — up 15 pence per share on its offer of July 5 — valuing the company at around $611 million.

Albert Benchimol, chief executive officer of Axis, said: “The benefits of this transaction announced with our initial offer have not materially changed with this revised offer.”

He added: “We believe that our final bid represents compelling and full value for Novae, as recognised by the boards of both companies.

“By offering Novae shareholders an improved cash offer, Axis aims to bring certainty to the transaction.”

Novae’s island operations are based in Ideation House, on Pitts Bay Road.

In a statement given to this newspaper, Novae said yesterday: “The Novae Group board has decided not to renew its quota share reinsurance contract in Bermuda for the 2018 year of account.

“Furthermore, the group will no longer underwrite US direct and facultative re/insurance through our Bermuda platform.

“International property-catastrophe reinsurance remains a key class of business for Novae and will continue to be underwritten in 2018.”

Novae also writes international reinsurance out of its Bermuda office, with the team led by Philippe Chevereau.

The company set up its Bermuda base two years when Stuart Heath, Novae’s property divisional head, expressed high hopes for further expansion on the island.

Early this month, Novae announced that it made a pretax loss of £14 million ($17.9 million) in the first half of 2017 and scrapped its dividend.

At that time, chief executive Matthew Fosh said the firm’s strategy since 2015 had been to re-engineer its underwriting portfolio in the face of a “deteriorating soft market” that he said had tested even the largest industry players.