ACQUISITION OF PLATINUM Overview On March 2, 2015, RenaissanceRe acquired 100% of the outstanding common shares of Platinum for $76 per Platinum common share, or aggregate consideration of $1.93 billion . In connection with an intercompany restructuring, effective July 1, 2015, Platinum was merged with RenaissanceRe, with RenaissanceRe continuing as the surviving company. Prior to the closing of the acquisition of Platinum, Platinum was a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and headquartered in Bermuda. Platinum, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, provided property and casualty reinsurance coverage through reinsurance brokers to insurers and select reinsurers on a worldwide basis. The Company believes the acquisition of Platinum has benefited the combined companies clients through an expanded product offering and enhanced broker relationships and it has also accelerated the growth of the Companys U.S. specialty and casualty reinsurance platform. The aggregate consideration for the transaction consisted of the issuance of 7.435 million RenaissanceRe common shares valued at $761.8 million (based on the share price as of March 2, 2015) and $1.16 billion of cash. The cash consideration was partially funded through a pre-closing dividend from Platinum of $10.00 per share, or $253.2 million (the Special Dividend), RenaissanceRe available funds of $604.4 million and a short term bridge loan of $300.0 million . On March 24, 2015, RenaissanceRe Finance Inc. (RenaissanceRe Finance), a wholly owned subsidiary of RenaissanceRe, issued $300.0 million of its 3.700% Senior Notes due 2025 (together with cash on hand) to replace the short term bridge loan used to fund part of the cash consideration. Refer to Note 9 . Debt and Credit Facilities for additional information related to the 3.700% Senior Notes due 2025 . In connection with the acquisition of Platinum, RenaissanceRe incurred transaction, integration and compensation related expenses totaling $0.3 million during 2017 ( 2016 - $2.1 mi