Bermuda-domiciled Omega has told privately held Lloyd's insurer Barbican, which renewed it approach to Omega last week, that the new proposal from Barbican "offers no improvement" on the offer made by the company last September. Although Barbican termed the offer to Omega a merger of equals, Omega has emphatically called it "a reverse takeover transaction". It said that it would be willing to give due consideration to any takeover offer that included "a full cash alternative". Omega noted that Barbican's leading shareholders, including Dallas-based private equity firm Carlson Capital, were "substantial investment institutions in their own right". The implication is that the structure of Barbican's first and latest offer appears to offer little in terms of a real cash option, since the partial cash alternative to current Omega shareholders would be funded through a debt refinancing of the new company. Barbican's initial cash alternative offer in September 2011 was equal to 84p a share. Its latest offer is less specific, in that it would be based on the net Tangible Book Value of each company as of the end of last year, adjusted for reserves and for any "material changes" through to the date of the transaction closing.