Shareholders in reinsurance firm PartnerRe today backed the $6.9 billion takeover offer from Italian investment giant Exor.

The shareholders voted on the deal — which also gets them a special dividend of $3 a share contingent on the deal closing — at PartnerRe’s HQ on Hamilton’s Pitts Bay Road this morning.

Exor, controlled by the billionaire Agnelli family, earlier this year froze out a rival bid by reinsurance firm Axis for PartnerRe.

PartnerRe said the acquisition was on track to be completed in the first quarter of next year, subject to regulatory approval.