Item 8.01 Other Events.

On September 6, 2012, AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (the "Company") agreed to repurchase from Trident II, L.P and its affiliated entities Marsh & McLennan Employees' Securities Company, L.P. and Marsh & McLennan Capital Professionals Fund, L.P. an aggregate of 3,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock at a purchase price of $34.50 per share, for a total purchase price of $103,500,000. The agreed repurchase price per share represents a discount of 1.26% to the Company's closing stock price on September 6, 2012 of $34.94. The transaction is expected to close on or about September 12, 2012. For the third quarter through September 7, 2012, including the aforementioned repurchase from Trident II, L.P. and its affiliates, the Company repurchased 5.2 million common shares for a total cost of $178.5 million. As of September 7, 2012, the Company had $236.2 million of remaining authorization for common share repurchases through December 31, 2012.

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