Shareholders' equity

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' equity

16. Shareholders' equity

Common shares

The following table presents a summary of the common shares issued and outstanding as of and for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020:

	2021	2020
Common shares issued, beginning of period	95,582,733	94,225,498
Options exercised	220,000	—
Issuance of common shares, net of forfeitures and shares withheld	3,182,511	350,409
Performance restricted shares granted, net of forfeitures and shares withheld	(1,464,532)	344,296
Issuance of common shares for Sirius Group acquisition	58,331,196	—
Issuance of common shares to related party	6,093,842	—
Common shares issued, end of period	161,945,750	94,920,203

The Company’s authorized share capital consists of 300,000,000 common shares with a par value of $0.10 each. During the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, the Company did not pay any dividends to its common shareholders.

Preference shares

The Company’s authorized share capital also consists of 30,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.10 each.

Series B preference shares

On February 26, 2021, the previous Sirius Group preference shareholders exchanged their existing Series B preference shares of Sirius Group in return for 8,000,000 new Series B preference shares, par value $0.10, of the Company. Dividends on the Series B preference shares will be cumulative and payable quarterly in arrears at an initial rate of 8.0% per annum. The preference shareholders will have no voting rights with respect to the Series B preference shares unless dividends have not been paid for six dividend periods, whether or not consecutive, in which case the holders of the Series B preference shares will have the right to elect two directors.

The dividend rate will reset on each five-year anniversary of issuance at a rate equal to the five-year U.S. treasury rate at such time plus 7.298%. The Series B preference shares are perpetual and have no fixed maturity date. The Series B preference shares will provide for redemption rights by the Company (i) in whole, or in part, on each five-year anniversary of issuance at 100%, (ii) in whole, but not in part, (a) upon certain rating agency events, at 102%, (b) upon certain capital disqualification events, at 100%, and (c) upon certain tax events, at 100%.

On June 28, 2021, the Company entered into an Underwriting Agreement with the Series B preference shareholders (the “Selling Shareholders”) pursuant to which the Selling Shareholders sold to the public market 5,000,000 Series B preference shares (the “Offering”). The Company did not receive any proceeds from the sale of the Series B preference shares by the Selling Shareholders. The transaction did not change the underlying conditions of the Series B preference shares. The underwriters had the option to purchase an additional 750,000 Series B preference shares from the Selling Shareholders for 30 days after the Offering. The Series B preference shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SPNT PB”. The Company has continuing obligations to register for resale the Series B preference shares on behalf of the Selling Shareholders so long as (a) a shelf registration statement remains in effect and (b) the expected gross cash proceeds of the offering will exceed $25 million in the aggregate.

During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company declared and paid dividends of $4.1 million to Series B preference shareholders.