An offering of 6 million shares of Bermuda-based Scottish Annuity & Life Holdings Ltd. was priced at $18.25 apiece on Wednesday evening through underwriters led by Bear Stearns Cos, Dow Jones News reported yesterday.

Scottish Annuity's shares closed on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday at $19.05, up 15 cents, or 0.8 percent, on volume of 771,700 shares - significantly above the average daily trading volume of 59,926 shares. The company had 20.1 million shares outstanding prior to this offering.

Scottish Annuity, a life-reinsurance specialist and issuer of life-insurance-based wealth-management products, has said it will use proceeds from the offering to pursue new business opportunities and for general corporate purposes.

Scottish Annuity moved its headquarters to Bermuda from the Cayman Islands last year.