Platinum Underwriters Bermuda Ltd. will receive a share of an estimated $940 million following an initial public offering by parent company Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd.

Underwriters for Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd. have set the price range of the company's pending initial public offering at $23 to $26 a share according to an amended Form S-1 filed Monday with the Securities Exchange Commission.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the company said it intends to offer 40 million shares - as previously reported - and that the underwriters can purchase up to an additional 6 million shares if the underwriters sell more than 40 million.

Platinum Underwriters have estimated the net proceeds from the offering at $940 million assuming a price of $25 a share.

Part of the proceeds will be retained by Platinum Holdings which is selling the shares, no less than $10 million, and the remainder will be contributed to the three operating subsidiaries, Platinum Underwriters Reinsurance Inc., Platinum Re (UK) Ltd. and Platinum Underwriters Bermuda Ltd.

The Wall Street Journal said that Goldman Sachs & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co., Salomon Smith Barney, Banc of America Securities LLC, Credit Suisse First Boston, and J.P. Morgan are listed as the underwriters of the offering.

The shares have been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PTP according to the filing with the SEC.

The filing also said that the company expects to issue between 10.1 million and 13.3 million shares to the St. Paul Companies in return for St. Paul's contribution of businesses to the holding company and other considerations.