White Mountains Re is looking to raise almost $250 million through a share offering that will close this Thursday.

The money from the preference shares, which cost $1,000 each, will be used to further capitalise the company's reinsurance subsidiaries and for general corporate purposes.

White Mountains Re made a profit of $92.2m in the opening quarter of this year.

At the end of last week parent company White Mountains Insurance Group announced that White Mountains Re had entered into an agreement to sell 250,000 fixed/floating perpetual non-cumulative preference shares, liquidation preference $1,000 per share in an offering exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933.

The Preference Shares are perpetual securities with no fixed maturity date that will pay a fixed semi-annual dividend at an annual rate of 7.506% until June 30, 2017 if declared by the board of White Mountains Re.

After that date, the preference shares will pay quarterly dividends at a floating annual rate equal to the greater of the three-month LIBOR plus 3.200% or 7.506% if declared by the board. Dividends on the shares are non-cumulative.

Once deductions for commissions and offering expenses have been taken out it is thought White Mountains Re will realise $246m from the share offering to be used to further capitalise its reinsurance subsidiaries and for general corporate purposes.