Mark Byrne believes the deal that would give him a 25 percent stake in Bermuda-based insurer Omega Insurance Holdings Ltd is “80 percent there”.If the £50 million ($78.4 million) deal goes through within the next few weeks, the founder of Flagstone Re will become executive chairman of the company.He told The Royal Gazette yesterday that he would not be pushing for the company to change domicile, and he believes Omega should continue to run its Bermuda operating company, which based on Par-la-Ville Road.Rival suitor Canopius has made public its interest in buying the entire company at the same price of 83p per share that Mr Byrne is paying for his one-quarter stake.Mr Byrne said he had contemplated making the same offer with 25 percent coming from his own investment vehicle Haverford (Bermuda) Ltd and the rest from private-equity investors, but this would have required persuading the holders of at least 75 percent of shares to sell something he did not believe was realistically attainable.Just two years ago, Omega shares were trading at around 130p on the London Stock Exchange. Yesterday they closed at 74p. Selling up at 83p would be unattractive to many investors who don’t want to stay invested to recoup more of their original investment rather than realise a large loss now.Mr Byrne said that with the pledge of ten percent of shares he has received from major shareholders Invesco and Omega, he requires only another 15 percent of shareholders to agree to sell.“The money is sitting in the bank and I’ve signed the contract and really it’s now just a question of whether 15 percent of shareholders will tender their shares,” Mr Byrne said.“Based on my conversations with key shareholders, we think it’s highly likely that we’ll get those.”Then it would be a matter of gaining regulatory approval in Britain, Bermuda and the US, something Mr Byrne expected to be done within a few weeks.“I think we’re about 80 percent there,” Mr Byrne said.Mr Byrne stepped down from the Flagstone board about 15 months ago and has since been looking at various business opportunities. Now was a good time for him to re-enter the industry, he said, as he believes rates may be starting to harden.At a conference in Bermuda last year, Mr Byrne said he expected to see a trend of insurers moving their holding companies out of Bermuda. He himself moved Class of 2005 start-up Flagstone from Bermuda to Luxembourg when he was the company’s executive chairman.Now he feels differently.Some companies had moved away to take advantage of tax treaties other domiciles had with the US, while others had been concerned with the Island’s political situation, he said.Concern about Bermuda’s political environment had eased considerably, he said. “Bermuda is treating its international companies well these days,” he said.“Likewise the intense pressure on offshore regimes that came out of the 2008 crisis has also considerably eased.“Those were the key drivers that pushed people into moving their holding companies and they have mellowed considerably, so I’d be surprised if we see a lot more go.”