Validus Holdings says it will become a bigger and stronger company in Bermuda as a result of its acquisition of Flagstone Re, which is now officially complete.According to a source, Bermuda-based Validus’s acquisition of Flagstone Re resulted in the loss of at least 18 jobs, including many Bermudians, bringing to more than 50 the number of known lay-offs in the Island’s vital re/insurance industry this year.Validus executive vice-president Jon Levenson declined to give the exact number of job losses, but said the reinsurer remained committed to Bermuda and growing its current 110 employees on the Island at the AIG building.Mr Levenson said just “a small number” of Flagstone employees joined Validus as many positions were duplicated.He added that while there were job losses as a result of the acquisition, going into run-off and “closing down was a real option for Flagstone had they not found a buyer”. Thus the jobs could have likely been lost anyway.“What the acquisition means is a Bermuda company that is bigger and stronger from a financial point of view,” he said.“Validus continues to expand in Bermuda and elsewhere. Our CEO and CFO and other senior executives are all based in Bermuda. We believe Bermuda is a very important reinsurance centre particularly for property catastrophe reinsurance of which Validus and RenaissanceRe are two of the leading property catastrophe reinsurers in the world.”Most of Flagstone’s offices around the world including Canada, Europe and India had already been closed or downsized prior to the acquisition by Validus as Flagstone sought to cut costs. Flagstone suffered a massive $326 million net loss last year as a long string of natural disasters sapped the company’s capital.“Flagstone built a company that was too big and too expensive for the amount of business they could write,” Mr Levenson said.Validus Holdings agreed to acquire Flagstone Reinsurance for $623.2 million in cash and stock.The Bermuda Stock Exchange yesterday announced the voluntary delisting, from the BSX, of Flagstone Re. It said Validus Holdings completed its acquisition of Flagstone Re on November 30, pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger dated 30 August, 2012.