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Assured Guaranty Ltd. Announces Agreement with WL Ross & Co. LLC to Purchase Up To Five Million Additional Common Shares of Assured

Thu. September 18, 2008; Posted: 06:36 PM
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HAMILTON, Bermuda, Sep 18, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- AGO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) ("Assured" or "the Company") announced today that it has provided a waiver to WL Ross & Co. LLC ("WL Ross") allowing investment funds managed by WL Ross (the "WL Ross Funds") to purchase up to 5,000,000 additional common shares of the Company in open market transactions from time to time. The timing and amount of any such purchases are in the sole discretion of WLR Ross and they are not obligated to purchase any such shares. The additional shares purchased by the WL Ross Funds, if any, will be purchased from current shareholders and therefore will not result in an increase in shareholders' equity at Assured or its subsidiaries, which continue to exceed the rating agencies' capital requirements for their triple-A and double-A ratings. If all 5,000,000 additional shares were purchased, the WL Ross Funds would beneficially own 17,166,396 shares or approximately 18.9% of the Company's outstanding common shares based on shares outstanding as of June 30, 2008.

"We appreciate the continued support of WL Ross as it reflects confidence in the long term prospects of Assured and also recognizes the significant value in our stock and Company through these turbulent times," commented Dominic Frederico, President and Chief Executive Officer of Assured Guaranty Ltd. "We look forward to continuing to work with Wilbur Ross who is also a member of our Board in order to further develop Assured's financial guaranty franchise."

Pursuant to a previously executed investment agreement (the "Investment Agreement"), the WL Ross Funds purchased an aggregate of 10,651,896 common shares of Assured on April 8, 2008. Following this purchase, the WL Ross Funds beneficially owned approximately 13.4% of the Company's outstanding common shares. Any new common shares purchased will be subject to the voting limitations and transfer restrictions contained in the Investment Agreement. The WL Ross Funds are also subject to a standstill provision restricting their ability to acquire additional common shares of the Company. As noted above, this standstill provision was waived in order to permit the WL Ross Funds to purchase up to 5,000,000 additional shares.

Assured has also been advised by WL Ross that it or one or more of its affiliated private equity partnerships may at various times during 2008 and 2009 enter into transactions that provide risk protection to the counterparty in the form of credit default swaps ("CDS") with respect to credit exposures of certain bonds insured by a subsidiary of Assured. The timing and terms of any such transactions are in the sole discretion of WL Ross or its affiliated private equity partnerships and they are not obligated to enter into any such transactions. WL Ross has also advised the Company that they have adopted procedures intended to ensure that each CDS transaction is entered into in accordance with applicable securities laws and regulations and to avoid entering into any CDS transactions on the basis of material non-public information with respect to Assured.

Assured Guaranty Corp. is a leading provider of financial guaranty insurance in the U.S. and international public finance, structured finance and mortgage-backed securities markets. Assured Guaranty Corp. is rated triple-A by the three leading rating agencies and is licensed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a Bermuda-based holding company. Its operating subsidiaries provide credit enhancement products to the U.S. and international public finance, structured finance and mortgage markets. More information can be found at www.assuredguaranty.com.

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. For example, the Company's forward-looking statements, including statements concerning long term prospects and value, could be affected by many events. These events include a significant reduction in the amount of reinsurance ceded by one or more of our principal ceding companies, rating agency action such as a ratings downgrade, difficulties with the execution of the Company's business strategy, contract cancellations, developments or volatility in the world's financial and capital markets, more severe or frequent losses associated with products affecting the adequacy of the Company's loss reserves, changes in regulation or tax laws, governmental actions, natural catastrophes, the Company's dependence on customers, decreased demand or increased competition, loss of key personnel, technological developments, the effects of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, changes in accounting policies or practices, changes in general economic conditions, other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time, management's response to these factors, and other risk factors identified in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which are made as of the date of this press release. Assured does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: Assured Guaranty Ltd.

Assured Guaranty Ltd., Hamilton Equity Investors: Sabra Purtill, CFA, Managing Director, Global Communications and Investor Relations, 212-408-6044 or 441-299-9375 spurtill@assuredguaranty.com or Ross Aron, Associate, Investor Relations, 212-261-5509 raron@assuredguaranty.com or Fixed Income Investors: Mike Walker, Director, Fixed Income Investor Relations, 212-261-5575 mwalker@assuredguaranty.com or Media: Ashweeta Durani, Vice President, Global Communications, 212-408-6042 or 917-597-2065 adurani@assuredguaranty.com

For full details on Assured Guaranty Ltd (AGO) click here. Assured Guaranty Ltd (AGO) has Short Term PowerRatings of 5. Details on Assured Guaranty Ltd (AGO) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

    


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