Ram Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based financial guaranty reinsurer, yesterday filed to sell up to $240 million in stock through an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.

The initial stock offering, now priced in a range between $14 and $16, will trade after floating under the ticker symbol 'RMR'.

Ram Holdings stands to keep less than seven percent of the offering's proceeds, while selling shareholders will reap the bulk of the funds raised.

Among Ram's principal shareholders are two it counts as customers: the PMI Group, owner of financial guaranty insurer FGIC Corp., and MBIA, also a financial guaranty insurer. In addition, an MBIA division provides investment management services to Ram.

PMI is Ram's largest shareholder, with a 25 percent stake, while MBIA owns 11.4 percent, the company's initial public offering filing showed. Greenwich Street Capital Partners and Transatlantic Reinsurance Company, a subsidiary of insurance giant American International Group Inc., are also principal investors.

Ram Holdings is offering 1.35 million shares, while selling shareholders are offloading 11.76 million shares. There will be approximately 27 million shares outstanding after the issue.

Ram's proceeds will be about $16.3 million, after fees, which it plans to put into Ram Reinsurance Company Ltd., its main business unit, to increase its ability to do business. Ram won't get any proceeds from the shares offered by selling investors.

Financial guaranty reinsurers provide coverage to insurers selling policies to cover bonds and other investments from the risk of default by the borrower.

On Friday, Bermuda insurance group XL Capital said new holding company, Security Capital Assurance Ltd., had filed to take XL's financial guaranty insurance and reinsurance units public. XL will own 65 percent of the units after the offering, which has not yet been priced.

Once their IPOs are completed, Ram and Security Capital Assurance will join Assured Guaranty Ltd. as publicly-traded Bermuda financial guaranty insurers. Assured was spun off by Ace Limited in May 2004.