CASTLEPOINT HOLDINGS, LTD. Common Shares UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

Exhibit 1.2

CASTLEPOINT HOLDINGS, LTD.

Common Shares

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

March , 2007

FRIEDMAN, BILLINGS, XXXXXX & CO., INC.

XXXXX, XXXXXXXX & XXXXX, INC.

XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXX SECURITIES LLC

XXXXX XXXXXXX & CO.

as Representatives of the several Underwriters

c/o Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc.

0000 00xx Xxxxxx Xxxxx

Xxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx 00000

Dear Sirs:

CastlePoint Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda company limited by shares (the “Company”), and the selling shareholders listed on Schedule I hereto (the “Selling Shareholders”), each confirms its agreement with each of the Underwriters listed on Schedule II hereto (collectively, the “Underwriters”), for whom Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc., Xxxxx, Xxxxxxxx & Xxxxx, Inc., Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx Securities LLC and Xxxxx Xxxxxxx &Co. are acting as representatives (in such capacity, collectively, the “Representatives”), with respect to (i) the sale by the Company and the Selling Shareholders of 6,191,500 common shares (the “Initial Shares”), par value $0.01 per share, of the Company (the “Common Shares”) in the respective numbers of shares set forth opposite the names of the Company and the Selling Shareholders in Schedule I hereto, and the purchase by the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, of the respective number of Common Shares set forth opposite the names of the Underwriters in Schedule II hereto, and (ii) the grant of the option described in Section 1(b) hereof to purchase all or any part of 910,800 additional Common Shares to cover over-allotments (the “Option Shares”), if any, from the Company to the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, in the respective numbers of Common Shares set forth opposite the names of each of the Underwriters listed in Schedule II hereto. The Initial Shares to be purchased by the Underwriters and all or any part of the Option Shares subject to the option described in Section 1(b) hereof are hereinafter called, collectively, the “Shares.”

The Company and each of the Selling Shareholders understands that the Underwriters propose to make an initial public offering of the Shares as soon as the Underwriters deem advisable after this Underwriting Agreement (the “Agreement”) has been executed and delivered.

The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission”), a registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-139939) including a related preliminary prospectus, for the registration of securities including the Shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “Securities Act Regulations”). The Company has prepared and filed such amendments to the registration statement and such amendments or supplements to the related prospectus as may have been required to the date hereof, and will file such additional amendments or supplements as may hereafter be required. The registration statement has been declared effective under the Securities Act by the Commission. The registration statement, as amended at the time it was declared effective by the Commission (and, if the Company files a post-effective amendment to such registration statement which becomes effective prior to the Closing Time (as defined below), such registration statement as so amended) and including all information deemed to be a part of the registration statement pursuant to incorporation by reference, Rule 430A of the Securities Act Regulations or otherwise, is hereinafter called the “Registration Statement.” Any registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) of the Securities Act Regulations is hereinafter called the “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement,” and after such filing the term “Registration Statement” shall include the 462(b) Registration Statement. Each prospectus included in the Registration Statement before it was declared effective by the Commission under the Securities Act, and any preliminary form of prospectus filed with the Commission by the Company with the consent of the Underwriters pursuant to Rule 424(a) of the Securities Act Regulations, is hereinafter called the “Preliminary Prospectus.” The term “‘Prospectus” means the final prospectus, as first filed with the Commission pursuant to paragraph (1) or (4) of Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act Regulations, and any amendments thereof or supplements thereto including all information incorporated by reference therein.

The Commission has not issued any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus.

The term “Disclosure Package” means (i) the Preliminary Prospectus, as most recently amended or supplemented immediately prior to the Initial Sale Time (as defined herein), (ii) the Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses (as defined below), if any, identified in Schedule III hereto, (iii) any other Free Writing Prospectus (as defined below) that the parties hereto shall hereafter expressly agree to treat as part of the Disclosure Package and (iv) the pricing information set forth on Schedule IV hereto, taken as a whole.

The term “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” means any issuer free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 433 of the Securities Act Regulations. The term “Free Writing Prospectus” means any free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act Regulations.

Each of the Selling Shareholders has executed and delivered a Custody Agreement and a Power of Attorney in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (collectively, the “Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney”), pursuant to which each of the Selling Shareholders has placed the Initial Shares to be sold by them pursuant to this Agreement in custody and appointed the persons designated therein as attorneys in fact (the “Attorneys”) with the authority to execute and deliver this Agreement on behalf of the Selling Shareholders and to take certain other actions with respect thereto and hereto.

The Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters agree as follows:

1. Sale and Purchase:

(a) Initial Shares. Upon the basis of the warranties and representations and other terms and conditions herein set forth, at the purchase price per share of Common Shares of $ , the Company agrees to sell to the Underwriters the number of Initial Shares set forth in Schedule I opposite its name and each of the Selling Shareholders agrees to sell to the Underwriters the number of Initial Shares set forth in Schedule I opposite each Selling Shareholder’s name, and each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company and the Selling Shareholders the number of Initial Shares set forth in Schedule II opposite such Underwriter’s name, plus any additional number of Initial Shares which such Underwriter may become obligated to purchase pursuant to the provisions of Section 10 hereof, subject in each case, to such adjustments among the Underwriters as the Representatives in their sole discretion shall make to eliminate any sales or purchases of fractional shares.

(b) Option Shares. In addition, upon the basis of the warranties and representations and other terms and conditions herein set forth, at the purchase price per share of Common Shares set forth in paragraph (a) above, the Company hereby grants an option to the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, all or any part of the Option Shares set forth in Schedule I opposite such party’s name, plus any additional number of Option Shares which such Underwriter may become obligated to purchase pursuant to the provisions of Section 10 hereof. The option hereby granted will expire 30 days after the date hereof and may be exercised in whole or in part from time to time within such 30-day period only for the purpose of covering over-allotments which may be made in connection with the offering and distribution of the Initial Shares upon notice by the Representatives to the Company setting forth the number of Option Shares as to which the several Underwriters are then exercising the option and the time and date of payment and delivery for such Option Shares. Any such time and date of delivery (an “Option Closing Time”) shall be determined by the Representatives, but shall not be later than three full business days (or earlier, without the consent of the Company, than two full business days) after the exercise of such option, nor in any event prior to the Closing Time, as hereinafter

defined. If the option is exercised as to all or any portion of the Option Shares, the Company will sell that number of Option Shares then being purchased and each of the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, will purchase that proportion of the total number of Option Shares then being purchased which the number of Initial Shares set forth in Schedule II opposite the name of such Underwriter bears to the total number of Initial Shares, subject in each case to such adjustments among the Underwriters as the Representatives in their sole discretion shall make to eliminate any sales or purchases of fractional shares.

2. Payment and Delivery:

(a) Initial Shares. The Initial Shares to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder, in definitive form, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representatives may request upon at least forty-eight hours’ prior notice to the Company and the Selling Shareholders shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company and the Selling Shareholders to the Representatives, including, at the option of the Representatives, through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified to the Representatives by the Company and the Selling Shareholders, upon at least forty-eight hours’ prior notice. The Company will cause the certificates representing the Initial Shares to be made available for checking and packaging not later than 1:00 p.m. New York City time on the business day prior to the Closing Time (as defined below) with respect thereto at the office of Lord, Bissell & Brook LLP, 000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxxxx, XX 00000, or at the office of DTC or its designated custodian, as the case may be (the “Designated Office”). The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the third (fourth, if the determination of the purchase price of the Initial Shares occurs after 4:30 p.m., New York City time) business day after the date hereof (unless another time and date shall be agreed to by the Representatives and the Company). The time and date at which such delivery and payment are actually made is hereinafter called the “Closing Time.”

(b) Option Shares. Any Option Shares to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder, in definitive form, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representatives may request upon at least forty-eight hours’ prior notice to the Company shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company to the Representatives, including, at the option of the Representatives, through the facilities of DTC for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified to the Representatives by the Company upon at least forty-eight hours’ prior notice. The Company will cause the certificates representing the Option Shares to be made available for checking and packaging at least twenty-four hours prior to the Option Closing Time with respect thereto at the Designated Office. The time and

date of such delivery and payment shall be 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the date specified by the Representatives in the notice given by the Representatives to the Company of the Underwriters’ election to purchase such Option Shares or on such other time and date as the Company and the Representatives may agree upon in writing.

(c) Directed Shares. It is understood that approximately 285,000 shares of the Initial Shares (“Directed Shares”) initially will be reserved by the Underwriters for offer and sale to employees and persons having business relationships with the Company (“Directed Share Participants”) upon the terms and conditions set forth in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (the “Directed Share Program”). Under no circumstances will the Representatives or any Underwriter be liable to the Company or to any Directed Share Participant for any action taken or omitted to be taken in good faith in connection with such Directed Share Program. To the extent that any Directed Shares are not affirmatively reconfirmed for purchase by any Directed Share Participant on or immediately after the date of this Agreement, such Directed Shares may be offered to the public as part of the public offering contemplated herein.

3. Representations and Warranties of the Company:

The Company represents and warrants to the Underwriters as of the date hereof, the Initial Sale Time (as defined below), as of the Closing Time and as of any Option Closing Time (if any), that:

(a) the Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package; the outstanding share capital of the Company and each subsidiary of the Company (each, a “Subsidiary”) have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable, and all of the outstanding share capital of the Subsidiaries are directly or indirectly owned of record and beneficially by the Company; except as disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there are no outstanding (i) securities or obligations of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries convertible into or exchangeable for any share capital of the Company or any such Subsidiary, (ii) warrants, rights or options to subscribe for or purchase from the Company or any such Subsidiary any such share capital or any such convertible or exchangeable securities or obligations, or (iii) obligations of the Company or any such Subsidiary to issue any share capital, any such convertible or exchangeable securities or obligation, or any such warrants, rights or options;

(b) each of the Company and the Subsidiaries (all of which are named in Exhibit 21 to the Registration Statement) has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of its respective jurisdiction of incorporation with full corporate power and authority to own its respective properties and to conduct its respective businesses as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, and, in the case of the Company,

to execute and deliver this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated herein;

(c) the Company and each of the Subsidiaries is duly qualified as a foreign corporation and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which it conducts its respective business or in which it owns or leases real property or otherwise maintains an office and in which the failure, individually or in the aggregate, to be so qualified would not have a material adverse effect on the assets, business, operations, earnings, properties or condition (financial or otherwise), present or prospective, of the Company and the Subsidiaries taken as a whole (any such effect or change, where the context so requires, is hereinafter called a “Material Adverse Effect” or “Material Adverse Change”);

(d) the Company and each Subsidiary holds such licenses, certificates, permits, consents, orders, approvals, accreditations and other authorizations from governmental authorities (including, without limitation, from the insurance regulatory agencies of the various jurisdictions where it conducts business) (“Permits”) and has made all necessary filings required under any federal, state or local law, regulation or rule, and has obtained all necessary authorizations, consents and approvals from other persons, required in order to conduct their respective businesses as described in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, except where the failure to hold any Permit or make such filings required under any federal, state or local law, regulation or rule or obtain such authorizations, consents and approvals from other persons would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect; each such Permit is valid and in full force and effect; except as disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries is in violation of, in default under, or has received any written notice regarding or alleging a violation of or default under or revocation of any such Permit or a violation of any federal, state or local law, regulation or rule or any decree, order or judgment applicable to the Company or any of the Subsidiaries the effect of which, in each case, would reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect; except as disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, the authority of each Subsidiary to write or produce the classes and lines of insurance authorized by such Permit is unrestricted and no such Permit contains a burdensome restriction that is not adequately disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, except for a restriction that would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect; and neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries is a party to any agreement, formal or informal, with any regulatory official or other person limiting the ability of the Company or any Subsidiary from making full use of the Permits issued to it;

(e) the Company and the Subsidiaries are in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, orders, decrees and judgments, including those relating to transactions with affiliates;

(f) except as disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, the Company has made no material change in its insurance reserving practices since December 31, 2005;

(g) all reinsurance treaties and arrangements to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party are in full force and effect and neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in violation of, or in default in the performance, observance or fulfillment of, any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained therein, except where the failure of such reinsurance treaties and arrangements to be in full force and effect or where such violation or default would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has received any notice from any of the other parties to such treaties, contracts or agreements that such other party intends not to perform such treaty and, to the knowledge of the Company and the Subsidiaries, none of the other parties to such treaties or arrangements is in breach of any such treaty or arrangement except to the extent adequately and properly reserved for in the audited historical financial statements of the Company included in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, or except where such breach would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect;

(h) the financial statements of CastlePoint Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (“CPRE”) from which certain ratios and other statistical data filed as part of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package have been derived have been prepared for each relevant period in conformity with the practices required or permitted by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and such accounting practices have been applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved, except as may otherwise be indicated therein or in the notes thereto, and present fairly in all material respects the statutory financial position of CPRE as of the dates thereof, and the statutory basis results of operations of CPRE for the periods covered thereby;

(i) the statutory financial statements of CastlePoint Insurance Company (“CPIC”) from which certain ratios and other statistical data filed as part of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package have been derived have been prepared for each relevant period in conformity with statutory accounting principles or practices required or permitted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and by the New York Insurance Department, and such statutory accounting practices have been applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved, except as may otherwise be indicated therein or in the notes thereto, and present fairly in all material respects the statutory financial position of CPIC as of the dates thereof, and the statutory basis results of operations of CPIC for the periods covered thereby;

(j) neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in breach of or in default under (nor has any event occurred which with notice, lapse of time, or both would constitute a

breach of, or default under), its respective organizational documents, or in the performance or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any license, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or by which any of them or their respective properties is bound, except for such breaches or defaults which could not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect;

(k) the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, and consummation of the transactions contemplated herein will not (A) conflict with, or result in any breach of, or constitute a default under (nor constitute any event which with notice, lapse of time, or both would constitute a breach of, or default under), (i) any provision of the organizational documents of the Company or any Subsidiary, or (ii) any provision of any license, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or by which any of them or their respective properties may be bound or affected, or under any federal, state, local or foreign law, regulation or rule or any decree, judgment or order applicable to the Company or any Subsidiary, except in the case of this clause (ii) for such breaches or defaults which could not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; or (B) result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge, claim or encumbrance upon any property or asset of the Company or any Subsidiary;

(l) this Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and is a legal, valid and binding agreement of the Company enforceable in accordance with its terms, except as may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally, and by general equitable principles, and except to the extent that the indemnification and contribution provisions of Section 11 hereof may be limited by federal or state securities laws and public policy considerations in respect thereof;

(m) no approval, authorization, consent or order of or filing with any federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory commission, board, body, authority or agency is required in connection with the Company’s execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, its consummation of the transactions contemplated herein, and its sale and delivery of the Shares, other than (A) such as have been obtained, or will have been obtained at the Closing Time or the relevant Option Closing Time, as the case may be, under the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), (B) such approvals as have been obtained in connection with the approval of the quotation of the Shares on the Nasdaq Global Market and (C) any necessary qualification under the securities or blue sky laws of the various jurisdictions in which the Shares are being offered by the Underwriters;

(n) each of the Registration Statement and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement has become effective under the Securities Act and no stop order suspending

the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement has been issued under the Securities Act and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, are contemplated or threatened by the Commission; and the Company has complied to the Commission’s satisfaction with any request on the part of the Commission for additional information;

(o) the Preliminary Prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the time it became effective and as of the date hereof complied, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement, such Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus will, when they become effective or are filed with the Commission, as the case may be, comply, in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations;

(p) the Registration Statement, as of the effective date and as of the date hereof, did not, does not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; and the Preliminary Prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the time it became effective, does not, and the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto will not, as of the applicable filing date, the date hereof and at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time (if any), contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that the Company makes no warranty or representation with respect to any statement contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement, such Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with the information concerning the Underwriters and furnished in writing by or on behalf of the Underwriters through the Representatives to the Company expressly for use therein (that information being limited to that described in the last sentence of the first paragraph of Section 11(c) hereof);

(q) as of :00 PM (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement (the “Initial Sale Time”), the Disclosure Package did not, and at the time of each sale of Shares and at the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time, the Disclosure Package will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; as of its issue date or date of first use and at all subsequent times through the Initial Sale Time, each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, taken together with the Disclosure Package, did not, and at the time of each sale of Shares and at the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time, each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, taken together with the Disclosure Package, will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that the Company makes no warranty or

representation with respect to any statement contained in or omitted from any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Disclosure Package in reliance upon and in conformity with the information concerning the Underwriters and furnished in writing by or on behalf of the Underwriters through the Representatives to the Company expressly for use therein (that information being limited to that described in the last sentence of the first paragraph of Section 11(c) hereof);

(r) each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as of its issue date and at all subsequent times through the completion of the public offer and sale of the Shares did not, does not and will not include any information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, including any document incorporated by reference therein that has not been superseded or modified;

(s) the Company is eligible to use Free Writing Prospectuses in connection with this offering pursuant to Rules 164 and 433 under the Securities Act; any Free Writing Prospectus that the Company is required to file pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act Regulations has been, or will be, filed with the Commission in accordance with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations; and each Free Writing Prospectus that the Company has filed, or is required to file, pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act Regulations or that was prepared by or on behalf of or used by the Company complies or will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations;

(t) except for the Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses identified in Schedule III hereto, and any electronic road show relating to the public offering of shares contemplated herein, the Company has not prepared, used or referred to, and will not, without the prior consent of the Representatives, prepare, use or refer to, any Free Writing Prospectus;

(u) the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and any Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses (to the extent any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus was required to be filed with the Commission) delivered to the Underwriters for use in connection with the public offering of the Shares contemplated herein have been and will be identical to the versions of such documents transmitted to the Commission for filing via the Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System (“XXXXX”), except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T;

(v) the Company filed the Registration Statement with the Commission before using any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus; and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus was preceded or accompanied by the most recent Preliminary Prospectus satisfying the requirements of Section 10 under the Securities Act.

(w) there are no actions, suits, proceedings, inquiries or investigations pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against the Company or any Subsidiary or any of their respective officers and directors or to which the properties, assets or rights

of any such entity are subject, at law or in equity, before or by any federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory commission, board, body, authority, arbitral panel or agency which could result in a judgment, decree, award or order having a Material Adverse Effect;

(x) the financial statements, including the notes thereto, included in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package present fairly the consolidated financial position of the entities to which such financial statements relate (the “Covered Entities”) as of the dates indicated and the consolidated statement of income and changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows of the Covered Entities for the periods specified; such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles as applied in the United States and on a consistent basis during the periods involved and in accordance with Regulation S-X promulgated by the Commission; the financial statement schedules included in the Registration Statement and the amounts in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package under the captions “Summary - Summary Historical Consolidated Financial Information” and “Selected Historical Financial Information” fairly present the information shown therein and have been compiled on a basis consistent with the financial statements included in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package; no other financial statements or supporting schedules are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package;

(y) PricewaterhouseCoopers, whose reports on the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company and the Subsidiaries are filed with the Commission as part of each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, are, and were during the periods covered by their reports, independent public accountants as required by the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations and are registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board;

(z) subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, and except as may be otherwise stated in such documents, there has not been (A) any Material Adverse Change or any development that could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, (B) any transaction that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries taken as a whole, entered into by the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, (C) any obligation, contingent or otherwise, directly or indirectly incurred by the Company or any Subsidiary that is material to the Company and Subsidiaries taken as a whole or (D) any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the Company on any class of its share capital;

(aa) the Shares conform in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package;

(bb) except as disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there are no persons with registration or other similar rights to have any equity or debt securities, including securities which are convertible into or exchangeable for equity securities, registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or otherwise registered by the Company under the Securities Act, (i) except for the Selling Shareholders, to the extent of the equity securities to be offered and sold by the Selling Shareholders as contemplated by this Agreement, and (ii) except for those registration or similar rights which have been waived with respect to the offering contemplated by this Agreement, all of which registration or similar rights described in clauses (i) and (ii) are fairly summarized in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package;

(cc) the Shares to be sold by the Company as contemplated by this Agreement have been duly authorized and, when issued and duly delivered against payment therefor as contemplated by this Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, free and clear of any pledge, lien, encumbrance, security interest or other claim, and the issuance and sale of such Shares by the Company is not subject to preemptive or other similar rights arising by operation of law, under the organizational documents of the Company or under any agreement to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or otherwise;

(dd) the Shares have been approved for listing on the Nasdaq Global Market, subject to official notice of issuance; the Company has taken all necessary actions to ensure that, upon and at all times after Nasdaq shall have approved the Shares for listing, it will be in compliance in all material respects with all applicable corporate governance requirements set forth in the NASD’s Nasdaq Marketplace Rules that are then in effect and applicable to the Company, and is taking such steps as are necessary to ensure that it will be in compliance in all material respects with other applicable corporate governance requirements set forth in the NASD’s Nasdaq Marketplace Rules standards not currently in effect upon the effectiveness of such requirements;

(ee) the Company has not taken, and will not take, directly or indirectly, any action which is designed to or which has constituted or which might reasonably be expected to cause or result in stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares;

(ff) neither the Company nor any of its affiliates (i) is required to register as a “broker” or “dealer” in accordance with the provisions of the Exchange Act or the Exchange Act Regulations, or (ii) directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or has any other association with (within the meaning of Article I of the By-laws of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (the “NASD”)) any member firm of the NASD;

(gg) any certificate signed by any officer of the Company or any Subsidiary delivered to the Representatives or to counsel for the Underwriters pursuant to or in

connection with this Agreement shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company to each Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby;

(hh) the form of certificate used to evidence the Common Shares complies in all material respects with all applicable statutory requirements, with any applicable requirements of the organizational documents of the Company and the requirements of the Nasdaq Global Market;

(ii) the Company and the Subsidiaries have good and valid title in fee simple to all real property, if any, and good title to all personal property owned by them, in each case free and clear of all liens, security interests, pledges, charges, encumbrances, mortgages and defects, except such as are disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package or such as do not materially and adversely affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made or proposed to be made of such property by the Company and the Subsidiaries; and any real property and buildings held under lease by the Company or any Subsidiary are held under valid, existing and enforceable leases, with such exceptions as are disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package or are not material and do not interfere with the use made or proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company or such Subsidiary;

(jj) the descriptions in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package of the legal or governmental proceedings, contracts, leases and other legal documents therein described present fairly the information required to be shown, and there are no legal or governmental proceedings, contracts, leases, or other documents of a character required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package or to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement which are not described or filed as required; all agreements between the Company or any of the Subsidiaries and third parties expressly referenced in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package are legal, valid and binding obligations of the Company or one or more of the Subsidiaries, enforceable in accordance with their respective terms, except to the extent enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally and by general equitable principles, and except to the extent that the indemnification and contribution provisions of Section 11 hereof may be limited by federal or state securities laws and public policy considerations in respect thereof;

(kk) the Company and each Subsidiary own or possess adequate licenses or other rights to use all patents, trademarks, service marks, trade names, copyrights, software and design licenses, trade secrets, manufacturing processes, other intangible property rights and know-how (collectively “Intangibles”) necessary to entitle the Company and each Subsidiary to conduct its business as described in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package (except for such licenses or rights which the failure of the Company or Subsidiary to own or possess would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect), and neither the Company nor any

Subsidiary has received notice of infringement of or conflict with asserted rights of others (and neither the Company nor any Subsidiary knows of any infringement or conflict with any such asserted rights) with respect to any Intangibles which could have a Material Adverse Effect;

(ll) (x) the Company has established and maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act), which (i) are designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to the Company’s principal executive officer and its principal financial officer by others within those entities, particularly during the periods in which the periodic reports required under the Exchange Act are being prepared, (ii) have been evaluated for effectiveness as of the end of the last fiscal period covered by the Registration Statement, and (iii) are effective in all material respects to perform the functions for which they were established, and (y) the Company is not aware of (a) any significant deficiency or material weakness in the design or operation of its internal controls over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information to management and the Board of Directors, or (b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Since the most recent evaluation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures described above, there have been no significant changes in internal control over financial reporting or in other factors that could significantly affect internal control over financial reporting;

(mm) the Company and each of the Subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles as applied in the United States and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences;

(nn) each of the Company and the Subsidiaries maintains insurance (issued by insurers of recognized financial responsibility) of the types and in the amounts generally deemed adequate for their respective businesses and consistent with insurance coverage maintained by similar companies in similar businesses, including, but not limited to, insurance covering real and personal property owned or leased by the Company and the Subsidiaries against theft, damage, destruction, acts of vandalism and all other risks customarily insured against, all of which insurance is in full force and effect;

(oo) neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries is in violation, or has received notice of any violation with respect to, any applicable environmental, safety or

similar law applicable to the business of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries; the Company and the Subsidiaries have received all permits, licenses or other approvals required of them under applicable federal and state occupational safety and health and environmental laws and regulations to conduct their respective businesses, and the Company and the Subsidiaries are in compliance with all terms and conditions of any such permit, license or approval, except in each case, for any such violation of law or regulation, failure to receive required permits, licenses or other approvals or failure to comply with the terms and conditions of such permits, licenses or approvals which could not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change;

(pp) neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in violation of or has received notice of any violation with respect to any federal or state law relating to discrimination in the hiring, promotion or pay of employees, nor any applicable federal or state wages and hours law, nor any state law precluding the denial of credit due to the neighborhood in which a property is situated, the violation of any of which could have a Material Adverse Effect;

(qq) the Company and each of the Subsidiaries are in compliance in all material respects with all presently applicable provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, including the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (“ERISA”); no “reportable event” (as defined in ERISA) has occurred with respect to any “pension plan” (as defined in ERISA) for which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries would have any liability; the Company and each of the Subsidiaries have not incurred and do not expect to incur liability under (i) Title IV of ERISA with respect to termination of, or withdrawal from, any “pension plan” or (ii) Section 412 or 4971 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (“Code”); and each “pension plan” for which the Company and each of its Subsidiaries would have any liability that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified in all material respects and nothing has occurred, whether by action or by failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification;

(rr) neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries nor any officer or director purporting to act on behalf of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries has at any time (i) made any contributions to any candidate for political office, or failed to disclose fully any such contributions, in violation of law, (ii) made any payment to any state, federal or foreign governmental officer or official, or other person charged with similar public or quasi-public duties, other than payments required or allowed by applicable law, (iii) made any payment outside the ordinary course of business to any investment officer or loan broker or person charged with similar duties of any entity to which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries sells or from which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries buys loans or servicing arrangements for the purpose of influencing such agent, officer, broker or person to buy loans or servicing arrangements from or sell loans to the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, or (iv) engaged in any transactions, maintained any bank account

or used any corporate funds except for transactions, bank accounts and funds which have been and are reflected in the normally maintained books and records of the Company and the Subsidiaries;

(ss) except as otherwise disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there are no outstanding personal loans, extensions of credit or advances or guarantees of indebtedness by the Company or any of the Subsidiaries to or for the benefit of any of the officers or directors of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or any of the members of the families of any of them;

(tt) neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company or the Selling Shareholders, any employee or agent of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, has made any payment of funds of the Company or of any Subsidiary or received or retained any funds in violation of any law, rule or regulation;

(uu) all securities issued by the Company, any of the Subsidiaries or any trusts established by the Company or any Subsidiary, have been or will be issued and sold in compliance with (i) all applicable federal and state securities laws, (ii) the laws of the applicable jurisdiction of incorporation of the issuing entity and, (iii) to the extent applicable to the issuing entity, the requirements of the Nasdaq Global Market;

(vv) the Company and its Subsidiaries are, and at all times prior were, (i) in compliance with any and all applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws, regulations, ordinances, rules, orders, judgments, decrees, permits or other legal requirements relating to the protection of human health and safety, the environment, natural resources, petroleum or hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (“Environmental Laws”), which compliance includes obtaining, maintaining and complying with all permits and authorizations and approvals required by Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses and (ii) have not received notice of nor do they otherwise have knowledge of any actual or potential liability for the investigation or remediation of any disposal or release of petroleum, hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, except in the case of clause (i) or (ii) where such non-compliance with or liability under Environmental Laws could not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has been named as a “potentially responsible party” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, or any other similar Environmental Law, except with respect to any matters that could not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. None of the Company and its Subsidiaries (A) is a party to any proceeding under Environmental Laws in which a governmental authority is also a party, other than such proceedings regarding which it is believed no monetary penalties of $100,000 or more will be imposed, and (B) anticipates material capital expenditures relating to Environmental Laws;

(ww) in connection with this offering, the Company has not offered and will not offer its Common Shares or any other securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for Common Shares in a manner in violation of the Securities Act; and the Company has not distributed and will not distribute any offering material in connection with the offer and sale of the Shares except for the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement thereto;

(xx) the Company has complied and will comply with all the provisions of Florida Statutes, Section 517.075 (Chapter 92-198, Laws of Florida); and neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries or affiliates does business with the government of Cuba or with any person or affiliate located in Cuba;

(yy) the Company has not incurred any liability for any finder’s fees or similar payments in connection with the transactions herein contemplated;

(zz) no relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company or any of the Subsidiaries on the one hand, and the directors, officers, shareholders, customers or suppliers of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries on the other hand, which is required by the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations to be described in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package, which is not so described;

(aaa) the Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Shares, will not be, (i) required to register as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), or, (ii) to its knowledge, an entity “controlled” by an “investment company”, as such terms are defined in the Investment Company Act and the rules promulgated thereunder;

(bbb) there are no existing or, to the knowledge of the Company or the Selling Shareholders, threatened labor disputes with the employees of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries which could have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect;

(ccc) the Company, the Subsidiaries and any of the officers and directors of the Company and the Subsidiaries, in their capacities as such, are, and at the Closing Time and any Option Closing Time will be, in compliance in all material respects with the provisions of the Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder applicable to them;

(ddd) no consent, approval, authorization or order of, or qualification with, any governmental body or agency, other than those obtained, is required in connection with the offering of the Directed Shares in any jurisdiction where the Directed Shares are being offered. The Company has not offered, or caused the Representatives to offer, Shares to any person pursuant to the Directed Share Program with the specific intent to

unlawfully influence (i) a customer or supplier of the Company to alter the customer’s or supplier’s level or type of business with the Company or (ii) a trade journalist or publication to write or publish favorable information about the Company or its products;

(eee) the Company (i) complies in all material respects with the Privacy Statements (as defined below) as applicable to any given set of personal information collected by the Company from Individuals (as defined below), (ii) complies in all material respects with all applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations regarding the collection, retention, use, transfer or disclosure of personal information and (iii) takes reasonable measures to protect and maintain the confidential nature of the personal information provided to the Company by Individuals in accordance with the terms of the applicable Privacy Statements; to the Company’s knowledge, no claims or controversies have arisen regarding the Privacy Statements or the implementation thereof. As used herein, “Privacy Statements” means, collectively, any and all of the Company’s privacy statements and policies published on Company websites or products or otherwise made available by the Company regarding the collection, retention, use and distribution of the personal information of individuals, including, without limitation, from visitors or users of any Company websites or products (“Individuals”);

(fff) none of the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of such entities is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “FCPA”), including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA, and the Company and the Subsidiaries and, to the knowledge of the Company, their affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with the FCPA;

(ggg) neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its affiliates or any director, officer, agent or employee of, or other person associated with or acting on behalf of, the Company, has violated the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended, the Uniting and Strengthening of America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT ACT) of 2001 or the rules and regulations promulgated under any such law or any successor law, except for such violations that would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

(hhh) the operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries and, to the Company’s knowledge, its affiliates are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and

Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, as amended, any other money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”), except for any such non-compliance as would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change, and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of it Subsidiaries, or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its affiliates, with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending;

(iii) neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its affiliates or any director, officer, agent or employee of, or other person associated with or acting on behalf of, the Company, is currently subject to any United States sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Treasury Department (“OFAC”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any Subsidiary, partner or joint venturer or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any United States sanctions administered by OFAC; and

(jjj) The Company has made available a “bona fide electronic road show,” as defined in Rule 433, in compliance with Rule 433(d)(8)(ii) (the “Bona Fide Electronic Road Show”) such that no filing of any written communication forming part of any “road show” (as defined in Rule 433) is required in connection with the offering of the Shares.

4. Representations and Warranties of the Selling Shareholders:

Each of the Selling Shareholders, severally and not jointly, represents and warrants to the Underwriters as of the date hereof, the Initial Sale Time and the Closing Time, that:

(a) such Selling Shareholder has full power and authority to enter into this Agreement and the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney. All authorizations and consents necessary for the execution and delivery by such Selling Shareholder of the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney, and for the execution of this Agreement on behalf of such Selling Shareholders, have been given. Each of the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney and this Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by or on behalf of such Selling Shareholder and constitutes a valid and binding agreement of such Selling Shareholder and is enforceable against such Selling Shareholder in accordance with the terms thereof and hereof, except as may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally, and by general equitable principles, and except to the extent that the

indemnification and contribution provisions of Section 11 hereof may be limited by federal or state securities laws and public policy considerations in respect thereof;

(b) such Selling Shareholder now has, and at the Closing Time or the applicable Option Closing Time will have, (i) good and valid title to the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder hereunder, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and claims whatsoever (other than pursuant to the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney), and (ii) full legal right and power, and all authorizations and approvals required by law, to sell, transfer and deliver such Shares to the Underwriters hereunder and to make the representations, warranties and agreements made by such Selling Shareholder herein.

(c) Upon the delivery of and payment for such Shares hereunder, such Selling Shareholder will deliver good and valid title thereto, free and clear of any pledge, lien, encumbrance, security interest or other claim; or if the Shares are to be transferred through the facilities of the DTC, upon payment for the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder, delivery of such Shares, as directed by the Underwriters, to Cede & Co. (“Cede”) or such other nominee as may be designated by DTC, registration of such Shares in the name of Cede or such other nominee and the crediting of such Shares on the books of DTC to securities accounts of the Underwriters (assuming that neither DTC nor any such Underwriter has notice of any adverse claim (within the meaning of Section 8-105 of the Uniform Commercial Code as in effect in the State of New York (the “UCC”)) to such Shares), (i) DTC shall be a “protected purchaser” of such Shares within the meaning of Section 8-303 of the UCC, (ii) under Section 8-501 of the UCC, the Underwriters will acquire a valid security entitlement in respect of such Shares and (iii) no action based on any “adverse claim”, within the meaning of Section 8-102 of the UCC, to such Shares may be asserted against the Underwriters with respect to such security entitlement;

(d) at the Closing Time, all stock transfer or other taxes (other than income taxes) which are required to be paid in connection with the sale and transfer of the Shares to be sold by such Selling Shareholder to the Underwriters hereunder will have been fully paid or provided for by such Selling Shareholder and all laws imposing such taxes will have been fully complied with;

(e) the execution and delivery by such Selling Shareholder of, and the performance by it of its obligations under this Agreement, will not contravene any provision of (i) applicable law, (ii) if applicable, the certificate or articles of incorporation or by-laws or other organizational documents of the Selling Shareholder, (iii) any agreement or other instrument binding upon the Selling Shareholder or (iv) any judgment, order or decree of any governmental body, agency or court having jurisdiction over the Selling Shareholder except, in the case of the foregoing clauses (i), (iii) and (iv), if contravention (other than with respect to the issuance and sale of the Shares) would not,

singly or in the aggregate, affect the validity of the Shares or the legal authority of the Selling Shareholder to comply with the terms of this Agreement;

(f) no approval, authorization, consent or order of or filing with any federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory commission, board, body, authority or agency is required in connection with each Selling Shareholder’s execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Selling Shareholder’s consummation of the transactions contemplated herein, and the Selling Shareholder’s sale and delivery of the Shares, other than (i) such as have been obtained, or will have been obtained at the Closing Time, as the case may be, under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, (ii) such approvals as have been obtained in connection with the approval of the quotation of the Shares on the Nasdaq Global Market and (iii) any necessary qualification under the securities or blue sky laws of the various jurisdictions in which the Shares are being offered by the Underwriters;

(g) such Selling Shareholder is not prompted to sell Shares by any information concerning the Company which is not set forth in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package;

(h) all material information with respect to such Selling Shareholder contained in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package (as amended or supplemented, if the Company shall have filed with the Commission any amendment or supplement thereto) complied and will comply in all material respects with all applicable provisions of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations, contains and will contain all statements of material fact required to be stated therein in accordance with the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations, and does not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading;

(i) such Selling Shareholder has not distributed and will not distribute any Free Writing Prospectus, Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any other offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Shares, except for any such distribution to which the Representatives have consented in advance; and such Selling Shareholder has not taken, directly or indirectly, any action intended, or which might reasonably be expected, to cause or result in, under the Securities Act, the Securities Act Regulations or otherwise, or which has constituted, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares;

(j) arrangements satisfactory to the Representatives have been made to place in custody the Shares to be sold hereunder by such Selling Shareholder have been placed in custody, for the purpose of making delivery of such Shares under this Agreement and under the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney which appoints Bank of New York, as custodian (the “Custodian”), for such Selling Shareholder; such Selling Shareholder agrees that the Shares held in custody for such Selling Shareholder under the Custody

Agreement and Power of Attorney are for the benefit of and coupled with and subject to the interest hereunder of the Custodian, the Attorneys, the Underwriters and the Company; that the arrangements made by such Selling Shareholder for such custody and the appointment of the Custodian and the Attorneys by such Selling Shareholder are irrevocable; and that the obligations of such Selling Shareholder hereunder shall not be terminated by operation of law, whether by the death, disability, incapacity or liquidation of such Selling Shareholder or the occurrence of any other event; if such Selling Shareholder should die, become disabled or incapacitated or be liquidated or if any other such event should occur before the delivery of the Shares hereunder, the Shares shall be delivered by the Custodian in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and actions taken by the Attorneys and the Custodian pursuant to the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney shall be as valid as if such death, liquidation, incapacity or other event had not occurred, regardless of whether or not the Custodian or the Attorneys, or either of them, shall have received notice thereof;

(k) such Selling Shareholder has not relied upon the Representatives or legal counsel for the Representatives for any legal, tax or accounting advice in connection with the offering and sale of the Shares;

(l) such Selling Shareholder does not have any registration or other similar rights to have any equity or debt securities registered for sale by the Company under the Registration Statement or included in the offering contemplated by this Agreement, except for such rights as are described in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package under “Description of Share Capital - Registration Rights - Purchasers in the Private Offering;”

(m) such Selling Shareholder does not have, or has waived prior to the date hereof, any preemptive right, co-sale right or right of first refusal or other similar right to purchase any of the Shares that are to be sold by the Company to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement; and none of such Selling Shareholder owns any warrants, options or similar rights to acquire, and does not have any right or arrangement to acquire, any capital stock, right, warrants, options or other securities from the Company, other than those described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus; and

(n) except as otherwise disclosed to the Underwriters in writing, none of such Selling Shareholder is a member of or an affiliate of or associated with any member of the NASD.

5. Certain Company Covenants:

The Company hereby agrees with each Underwriter:

(a) to furnish such information as may be required and otherwise to cooperate in qualifying the Shares for offering and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdictions (both domestic and foreign) as the Representatives may designate and

to maintain such qualifications in effect as long as requested by the Representatives for the distribution of the Shares, provided that the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to consent to the service of process under the laws of any such jurisdiction;

(b) if, at the time this Agreement is executed and delivered, it is necessary for a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement to be declared effective before the offering of the Shares may commence, the Company will endeavor to cause such post-effective amendment to become effective as soon as possible and will advise the Representatives promptly and, if requested by the Representatives, will confirm such advice in writing, when such post-effective amendment has become effective;

(c) to prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by the Underwriters and file such Prospectus with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act not later than 10:00 a.m. (New York City time), on the day following the execution and delivery of this Agreement or on such other day as the parties may mutually agree and to furnish promptly (and with respect to the initial delivery of such Prospectus, not later than 10:00 a.m. (New York City time) on the day following the execution and delivery of this Agreement or on such other day as the parties may mutually agree to the Underwriters copies of the Prospectus (or of the Prospectus as amended or supplemented if the Company shall have made any amendments or supplements thereto after the effective date of the Registration Statement) in such quantities and at such locations as the Underwriters may reasonably request for the purposes contemplated by the Securities Act Regulations, which Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the version transmitted to the Commission for filing via XXXXX, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T;

(d) to advise the Representatives promptly and (if requested by the Representatives) to confirm such advice in writing, when the Registration Statement has become effective and when any post-effective amendment thereto becomes effective under the Securities Act Regulations;

(e) to furnish a copy of each proposed Free Writing Prospectus to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters and obtain the consent of the Representatives prior to referring to, using or filing with the Commission any Free Writing Prospectus pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act, other than the Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses, if any, identified in Schedule III hereto;

(f) to comply with the requirements of Rules 164 and 433 of the Securities Act Regulations applicable to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing with the Commission, legending and record keeping, as applicable;

(g) to advise the Representatives immediately, confirming such advice in writing, of (i) the receipt of any comments from, or any request by, the Commission for amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus,

the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or for additional information with respect thereto, (ii) the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any order preventing or suspending the use of the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or of the suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or of the initiation or threatening of any proceedings for any of such purposes and, if the Commission or any other government agency or authority should issue any such order, to make every reasonable effort to obtain the lifting or removal of such order as soon as possible, (iii) any examination pursuant to Section 8(e) of the Securities Act concerning the Registration Statement, or (iv) if the Company becomes subject to a proceeding under Section 8A of the Securities Act in connection with the public offering of Shares contemplated herein, to advise the Representatives promptly of any proposal to amend or supplement the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and to file no such amendment or supplement to which the Representatives shall reasonably object in writing;

(h) to furnish to the Underwriters for a period of two years from the date of this Agreement (i) as soon as available, copies of all annual, quarterly and current reports or other communications supplied to holders of Common Shares, (ii) as soon as practicable after the filing thereof, copies of all reports filed by the Company with the Commission, the NASD or any securities exchange and (iii) such other information (provided that to the extent such information is not publicly available, it shall be provided on a confidential basis) as the Underwriters may reasonably request regarding the Company and the Subsidiaries; provided, however, that the Company shall not be required to provide the Underwriters with any such reports or information that have been filed or furnished with the Commission by an electronic transmission pursuant to XXXXX or an equivalent electronic database authorized by the Commission and that are available to the public;

(i) to advise the Underwriters promptly of the happening of any event or development known to the Company within the time during which a Prospectus relating to the Shares (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Securities Act Regulations) is required to be delivered under the Securities Act Regulations which, in the judgment of the Company or in the reasonable opinion of the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters, (i) would require the making of any change in the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package so that the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package would not include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, (ii) as a result of which any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicted or would conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement relating to the Shares, or (iii) if it is necessary at any time to amend or supplement the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package to comply with any law and, during such time, to promptly prepare and furnish to the Underwriters

copies of the proposed amendment or supplement before filing any such amendment or supplement with the Commission and thereafter promptly furnish at the Company’s own expense to the Underwriters and to dealers, copies in such quantities and at such locations as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request of an appropriate amendment or supplement to the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package so that the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances when it (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Securities Act Regulations) is so delivered, be misleading or, in the case of any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, or so that the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package will comply with applicable law;

(j) to file promptly with the Commission any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that may, in the judgment of the Company or the Representatives, be required by the Securities Act or requested by the Commission;

(k) prior to filing with the Commission any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, to furnish a copy thereof to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters and obtain the consent of the Representatives to the filing;

(l) to furnish promptly to the Representatives a signed copy of the Registration Statement, as initially filed with the Commission, and of all amendments or supplements thereto (including all exhibits filed therewith or incorporated by reference therein) and such number of conformed copies of the foregoing as the Representatives may reasonably request;

(m) to file during the period referred to in paragraph (i) above, all documents required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14, or 15(d) of the Exchange Act in the manner and within the time periods required by the Exchange Act and the Exchange Act Regulations;

(n) to apply the net proceeds of the sale of the Shares in accordance with its statements under the caption “Use of Proceeds” in the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package;

(o) to make generally available to its security holders and to deliver to the Representatives as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than the end of the fiscal quarter first occurring after the first anniversary of the effective date of the Registration Statement an earnings statement complying with the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act (in form, at the option of the Company, complying with the provisions of Rule 158 of the Securities Act Regulations,) covering a period of 12 months beginning after the effective date of the Registration Statement;

(p) to use its best efforts to maintain the quotation of the Shares on the Nasdaq Global Market and to file with the Nasdaq Global Market all documents and notices required by the Nasdaq Global Market of companies that have securities that are traded and quotations for which are reported by the Nasdaq Global Market;

(q) to engage and maintain, at its expense, a registrar and transfer agent for the Shares;

(r) to refrain, from the date hereof until 180 days after the date of the Prospectus (the “Lock-Up Period”), without the prior written consent of Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc., from, directly or indirectly, (i) offering, pledging, selling, contracting to sell, selling any option or contract to purchase, purchasing any option or contract to sell, granting any option for the sale of, or otherwise disposing of or transferring (or entering into any transaction or device which is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the disposition by any person at any time in the future of), any Common Shares or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Shares, or filing any registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any of the foregoing (except for amendments to the resale shelf registration statement, SEC Registration No. 333-134628, that the Company has previously filed), or (ii) entering into any swap or any other agreement or any transaction that transfers, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the economic consequences of ownership of the Common Shares, whether any such swap or transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Shares or such other securities, in cash or otherwise (the foregoing shall not apply (A) to the Shares to be sold hereunder; (B) to any Common Shares issued by the Company upon the exercise of options; and (C) in connection with awards under the Company’s benefit plans); or (iii) filing during such 180-day period any registration statement for any Common Shares or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for Common Shares except as contemplated by this Agreement; provided, however, that if during the last 17 days of the initial Lock-Up Period, the Company releases earnings results or announces material news or a material event or prior to the expiration of the initial Lock-Up Period, the Company announces that it will release earnings results during the 15-day period following the last day of the initial Lock-Up Period, then in each case the Lock-Up Period will be automatically extended until the expiration of the 18-day period beginning on the date of release of the earnings results or the announcement of the material news or material event, as applicable, unless Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc. waives, in writing, such extension; the Company will provide the Representatives and each person subject to the Lock-Up Period or Shareholder Lockup Period (as defined below), as applicable pursuant to the lockup letters described in Sections 4(t) and 4(u) below with prior notice of any such announcement that gives rise to an extension of the Lock-Up Period;

(s) not to, and to use its best efforts to cause its officers, directors and affiliates not to, (i) take, directly or indirectly prior to termination of the underwriting

syndicate contemplated by this Agreement, any action designed to stabilize or manipulate the price of any security of the Company, or which may cause or result in, or which might in the future reasonably be expected to cause or result in, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company, to facilitate the sale or resale of any of the Shares, (ii) sell, bid for, purchase or pay anyone any compensation for soliciting purchases of the Shares or (iii) pay or agree to pay to any person any compensation for soliciting any order to purchase any other securities of the Company;

(t) to cause each officer and director of the Company to furnish to the Representatives, prior to the Initial Sale Time, a letter or letters, substantially in the form of Exhibit B-1 hereto, pursuant to which each such person shall agree not to, directly or indirectly, (i) offer for sale, sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction or device which is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the disposition by any person at any time in the future of) any Common Shares or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Common Shares or (ii) enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic benefits or risks of ownership of such Common Shares, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Shares or other securities, in cash or otherwise, or make any public announcement of any intention to do any of the foregoing, in each case for a period from the date hereof until the expiration of the Lock-Up Period, without the prior written consent of Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc. on behalf of the Underwriters; provided, however, that if (A) during the last 17 days of the Lock-Up Period, the Company releases earnings results or announces material news or a material event or (B) prior to the expiration of the Lock-Up Period, the Company announces that it will release earnings results during the 15-day period following the last day of the Lock-Up Period, then in each case the Lock-Up Period will be automatically extended until the expiration of the 18-day period beginning on the date of release of the earnings results or the announcement of the material news or material event, as applicable, unless Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc. waives, in writing, such extension;

(u) to cause each Selling Shareholder to furnish to the Representatives, prior to the Initial Sale Time, a letter or letters, substantially in the form of Exhibit B-2 hereto, pursuant to which each such person shall agree not to, directly or indirectly, (i) offer for sale, sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction or device which is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the disposition by any person at any time in the future of) any Common Shares or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Common Shares or (ii) enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic benefits or risks of ownership of such Common Shares, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Shares or other securities, in cash or otherwise, or make any public announcement of any intention to do any of the foregoing, in each case for a period from the date hereof until the expiration of 60 days after the date of the Prospectus (the “Shareholder Lock-Up Period”), without the prior written consent of

Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc. on behalf of the Underwriters; provided, however, that if (A) during the last 17 days of the Shareholder Lock-Up Period, the Company releases earnings results or announces material news or a material event or (B) prior to the expiration of the Shareholder Lock-Up Period, the Company announces that it will release earnings results during the 15-day period following the last day of the Shareholder Lock-Up Period, then in each case the Shareholder Lock-Up Period will be automatically extended until the expiration of the 18-day period beginning on the date of release of the earnings results or the announcement of the material news or material event, as applicable, unless Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc. waives, in writing, such extension;

(v) if, at any time during the 90-day period after the date of the Prospectus, any rumor, publication or event relating to or affecting the Company shall occur as a result of which, in the reasonable opinion of the Representatives, the market price of the Common Shares has been or is likely to be materially affected (regardless of whether such rumor, publication or event necessitates a supplement to or amendment of the Prospectus) and after written notice from the Representatives advising the Company to the effect set forth above, to forthwith prepare, consult with the Representatives concerning the substance of, and disseminate a press release or other public statement, reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, responding to or commenting on such rumor, publication or event;

(w) that the Company will comply with all of the provisions of any undertakings in the Registration Statement; and

(x) that the Company (i) will comply with all applicable securities and other applicable laws, rules and regulations, including without limitation, the rules and regulations of the NASD, in each jurisdiction in which the Directed Shares are offered in connection with the Directed Share Program and (ii) will pay all reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program and any stamp duties, similar taxes or duties or other taxes, if any, incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program.

6. Certain Selling Shareholder Covenants:

Each of the Selling Shareholders hereby agrees, severally and not jointly, with each Underwriter:

(a) to deliver to the Representatives prior to the Closing Time a properly completed and executed United States Treasury Department Form W-8 (if the Selling Shareholders is a non-United States person, within the meaning of the Code or Form W-9 (if the Selling Shareholders is a United States person, within the meaning of the Code);

(b) to furnish to the Representatives, prior to the Initial Sale Time, a letter or letters, substantially in the form of Exhibit B-2 hereto;

(c) if, at any time prior to the date on which the distribution of the Shares as contemplated herein and in the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package has been completed, as determined by the Representatives, the Selling Shareholders has knowledge or becomes aware of (1) any Material Adverse Change or (2) the occurrence of any event as a result of which the Registration Statement, as then amended, would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading or the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package, in each case as then amended or supplemented, would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, such Selling Shareholders will promptly notify the Company and the Representatives;

(d) to deliver to the Company or the Underwriters such documentation as the Company or the Underwriters or any of their respective counsel may reasonably request in order to effectuate any of the provisions of this Agreement; and

(e) to not prepare or have prepared on its behalf or use or refer to any Free Writing Prospectus and to not distribute any written materials in connection with the offer or sale of the Shares.

7. Payment of Expenses:

(a) The Company agrees to pay all costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, whether or not the transactions contemplated hereunder are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, including expenses, fees and taxes in connection with (i) the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto, and the printing and furnishing of copies of each thereof to the Underwriters and to dealers (including costs of mailing and shipment), (ii) the preparation, issuance and delivery of the certificates for the Shares to the Underwriters, including any stock or other transfer taxes or duties payable upon the sale of the Shares to be sold by the Company to the Underwriters, (iii) the printing of this Agreement and any dealer agreements and furnishing of copies of each to the Underwriters and to dealers (including costs of mailing and shipment), (iv) the qualification of the Shares for offering and sale under state laws that the Company and the Representatives have mutually agreed are appropriate and the determination of their eligibility for investment under state law as aforesaid (including the legal fees and filing fees and other disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters assuming that the Common Shares is approved for quotation on the Nasdaq Global Market) and the printing and furnishing of copies of any blue sky surveys or legal investment surveys to the Underwriters and to dealers, (v) filing for and review of the public offering of the Shares by the NASD (including the legal fees and filing fees and other disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters relating thereto), (vi) the fees and expenses of any

custodian or transfer agent or registrar for the Shares and miscellaneous expenses referred to in the Registration Statement, (vii) the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the inclusion of the Shares in the Nasdaq Global Market, (viii) making road show presentations with respect to the offering of the Shares, (ix) preparing and distributing bound volumes of transaction documents for the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters and (x) the performance of the Company’s other obligations hereunder. Upon the request of the Representatives, the Company will provide funds in advance for filing fees.

(b) In addition to the expenses to be paid or reimbursed by the Company under subsection (a) above, the Company agrees to reimburse the Representatives for their reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in connection with the performance of its activities under this Agreement, including, but not limited to, costs such as printing, facsimile, courier service, direct computer expenses, accommodations and travel, roadshow expenses and the fees and expenses of the Underwriters’ outside legal counsel and any other advisors, accountants, appraisers, etc., provided that the amount of reimbursement under Section 7(a) and 7(b) shall not be greater than $750,000.

(c) If this Agreement shall be terminated by the Underwriters, or any of them, because of any failure or refusal on the part of the Company or the Selling Shareholders to comply with the terms or to fulfill any of the conditions applicable to the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, of this Agreement, the Company also will reimburse the Underwriters or such Underwriters as have so terminated this Agreement with respect to themselves, severally, for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses (such as printing, facsimile, courier service, direct computer expenses, accommodations, travel and the reasonable fees and disbursements of Underwriters’ counsel) and any other advisors, accountants, appraisers, etc. reasonably incurred by such Underwriters in connection with this Agreement or the transactions contemplated herein.

8. Conditions of the Underwriters’ Obligations:

The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder to purchase Shares at the Closing Time or on each Option Closing Time, as applicable, are subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company and the Selling Shareholders hereunder and under the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney on the date hereof and at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time, as applicable, the performance by the Company and the Selling Shareholders of their respective obligations hereunder and under the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney and to the satisfaction of the following further conditions at the Closing Time or on each Option Closing Time, as applicable:

(a) The Company shall furnish to the Underwriters at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time an opinion and letter of Xxxxx & XxXxxxxx, counsel for the Company and the Subsidiaries, addressed to the Underwriters and dated the Closing

Time and each Option Closing Time and in form and substance substantially similar to Exhibit C-1 and C-2, respectively.

(b) The Company shall furnish to the Underwriters at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time an opinion of Xxxxxxx, Xxxx & Xxxxxxx, Bermuda counsel for the Company, addressed to the Underwriters and dated the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time and in form and substance substantially similar to Exhibit D.

(c) The Company shall furnish to the Underwriters at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time an opinion of Xxxxx X. Xxxxx, senior corporate counsel for the Company, addressed to the Underwriters and dated the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time and in form and substance substantially similar to Exhibit E.

(d) On behalf of the Selling Shareholders, the following opinions shall be furnished to the Underwriters at the Closing Time: (i) Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxxxx, general counsel of The Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx Foundation and (ii) Xxxxxxx Field, General Counsel of Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxxxxxx Capital Management LLC, each addressed to the Underwriters and dated the Closing Time, and in form and substance substantially similar to Exhibit F.

(e) On the date of this Agreement and at the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time (if applicable), the Representatives shall have received from Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx & Co. letters dated the respective dates of delivery thereof and addressed to the Representatives, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, containing statements and information of the type specified in AU Section 634 “Letters for Underwriters and Certain other Requesting Parties” issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants with respect to the financial statements, including any pro forma financial statements, and certain financial information of the Company and the Subsidiaries included in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, and such other matters customarily covered by comfort letters issued in connection with registered public offerings; provided, that the letters delivered at the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time (if applicable) shall use a “cut-off” date no more than three business days prior to such Closing Time or such Option Closing Time, as the case may be.

In the event that the letters referred to above set forth any changes in indebtedness, decreases in total assets or retained earnings or increases in borrowings, it shall be a further condition to the obligations of the Underwriters that such letters shall be accompanied by a written explanation of the Company as to the significance thereof, unless the Representatives deem such explanation unnecessary.

(f) The Representatives shall have received at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time the opinion of Lord Bissell & Brook LLP, dated the Closing Time or such Option Closing Time, addressed to the Representatives and in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives.

(g) No amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any document in the Disclosure Package shall have been filed to which the Underwriters shall have objected in writing.

(h) Prior to the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time (i) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any order preventing or suspending the use of the Prospectus or any document in the Disclosure Package shall have been issued, and no proceedings for such purpose shall have been initiated or threatened, by the Commission, and no suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or the initiation or threatening of any proceedings for any of such purposes, has occurred; (ii) all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the Representatives; (iii) the Registration Statement shall not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; and (iv) the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package shall not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

(i) All filings with the Commission required by Rule 424 under the Securities Act to have been filed by the Closing Time shall have been made within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by such Rule, and all material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Act shall have been filed with the Commission within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by Rule 433 under the Act.

(j) Between the time of execution of this Agreement and the Closing Time or the relevant Option Closing Time there shall not have been any Material Adverse Change, and no transaction which is material and unfavorable to the Company shall have been entered into by the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, in each case, which in the Representatives’ sole judgment, makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering of the Shares as contemplated by the Registration Statement.

(k) The Shares shall have been approved for inclusion in the Nasdaq Global Market.

(l) The NASD shall not have raised any objection with respect to the fairness and reasonableness of the underwriting terms and arrangements.

(m) The Representatives shall have received lock-up agreements from each officer, director and Selling Shareholder in the form of Exhibit B-1 or B-2 attached hereto, as applicable, and such letter agreements shall be in full force and effect.

(n) The Company will, at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time, deliver to the Underwriters a certificate of its Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President, or Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, to the effect that:

(i) the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct, as if made on and as of the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, as applicable, and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, as applicable;

(ii) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or threatened under the Securities Act;

(iii) since the effective date of the Registration Statement, there has occurred no event required to be set forth in an amendment or supplement to the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package which has not been so set forth; and

(iv) subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there has not been (a) any Material Adverse Change, (b) any transaction that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, except transactions entered into in the ordinary course of business, (c) any obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, incurred by the Company or the Subsidiaries, except obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business, (d) any change in the share capital or outstanding indebtedness of the Company or any Subsidiary that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, (e) any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made on the share capital of the Company or any Subsidiary other than the dividend payable on the Company’s common shares on March 30, 2007 to shareholders of record as of March 15, 2007, or (f) any loss or damage (whether or not insured) to the property of the Company or any subsidiary which has been sustained or will have been sustained which has a Material Adverse Effect.

(o) The Selling Shareholders will, at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time, deliver to the Underwriters a certificate, to the effect that:

(i) the representations and warranties of the Selling Shareholders set forth in this Agreement and in the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney are true and correct as of such date; and

(ii) each of the Selling Shareholders has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder and under the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney at or prior to the date hereof.

(p) The Company and the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, shall have furnished to the Underwriters such other documents and certificates as to the accuracy and completeness of their respective statements in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, the respective representations, warranties and statements of the Company and the Selling Shareholders contained herein and in the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney, and the performance by the Company and the Selling Shareholders of their respective covenants contained herein and therein, and the fulfillment of any conditions contained herein or therein, as of the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, as the Underwriters may reasonably request.

9. Termination:

The obligations of the several Underwriters hereunder shall be subject to termination in the absolute discretion of the Representatives, at any time prior to the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, (i) if any of the conditions specified in Section 8 shall not have been fulfilled when and as required by this Agreement to be fulfilled, or (ii) if there has been since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package, any Material Adverse Change, or material change in management of the Company or any Subsidiary, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, or (iii) if there has occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities or other national or international calamity or crisis or change in economic, political or other conditions, the effect of which on the United States financial markets is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, impracticable to market the Shares or enforce contracts for the sale of the Shares, or (iv) if trading in any securities of the Company has been suspended by the Commission or by the Nasdaq Global Market, or if trading generally on the New York Stock Exchange or in the Nasdaq Global Market has been suspended (including an automatic halt in trading pursuant to market-decline triggers, other than those in which solely program trading is temporarily halted), or limitations on prices for trading (other than limitations on hours or numbers of days of trading) have been fixed, or maximum ranges for prices for securities have been required, by such exchange or the NASD or the over-the-counter market or by order of the Commission or any other governmental authority, or (v) if there has been any downgrade in the rating of the Company or any of its subsidiaries by A.M. Best, or (vi) any federal, state, local or foreign statute, regulation, rule or order of any court or other governmental authority has been enacted, published,

decreed or otherwise promulgated which, in the reasonable opinion of the Representatives, materially adversely affects or will materially adversely affect the business or operations of the Company.

If the Representatives elect to terminate this Agreement as provided in this Section 9, the Company and the Underwriters shall be notified promptly by telephone, promptly confirmed by facsimile.

If the sale to the Underwriters of the Shares, as contemplated by this Agreement, is not carried out by the Underwriters for any reason permitted under this Agreement or if such sale is not carried out because the Company shall be unable to comply in all material respects with any of the terms of this Agreement, the Company shall not be under any obligation or liability under this Agreement (except to the extent provided in Sections 7 and 11 hereof) and the Underwriters shall be under no obligation or liability to the Company under this Agreement (except to the extent provided in Section 10 and 11 hereof) or to one another hereunder.

10. Increase in Underwriters’ Commitments:

If any Underwriter shall default at the Closing Time or on any Option Closing Time in its obligation to take up and pay for the Shares to be purchased by it under this Agreement on such date, the Representatives shall have the right, within 36 hours after such default, to make arrangements for one or more of the non-defaulting Underwriters, or any other underwriters, to purchase all, but not less than all, of the Shares which such Underwriter shall have agreed but failed to take up and pay for (the “Defaulted Shares”). Absent the completion of such arrangements within such 36-hour period, (i) if the total number of Defaulted Shares does not exceed 10% of the total number of Shares to be purchased on such date, each non-defaulting Underwriter shall take up and pay for (in addition to the number of Shares which it is otherwise obligated to purchase on such date pursuant to this Agreement) the portion of the total number of Shares agreed to be purchased by the defaulting Underwriter on such date in the proportion that its underwriting obligations hereunder bears to the underwriting obligations of all non-defaulting Underwriters; and (ii) if the total number of Defaulted Shares exceeds 10% of such total, the Representatives may terminate this Agreement by notice to the Company, without liability of any party to any other party except that the provisions of Sections 7 and 11 hereof shall at all times be effective and shall survive such termination; provided, however, that nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

Without relieving any defaulting Underwriter from its obligations hereunder, the Company agrees with the non-defaulting Underwriters that it will not sell any Shares hereunder on such date unless all of the Shares to be purchased on such date are purchased on such date by the Underwriters (or by substituted Underwriters selected by the Representatives with the approval of the Company or selected by the Company with the approval of the Representatives).

If a new Underwriter or Underwriters are substituted for a defaulting Underwriter in accordance with the foregoing provision, the Company or the non-defaulting Underwriters shall have the right to postpone the Closing Time or the relevant Option Closing Time for a period not exceeding five business days in order that any necessary changes in the Registration Statement and Prospectus and other documents may be effected.

The term “Underwriter” as used in this Agreement shall refer to and include any Underwriter substituted under this Section 10 with the same effect as if such substituted Underwriter had originally been named in this Agreement.

11. Indemnity and Contribution by the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters:

(a) The Company agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless each Underwriter and any person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of each Underwriter from and against any loss, expense, liability, damage or claim (including the reasonable cost of investigation) which, jointly or severally, any such Underwriter or controlling person may incur under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim arises out of or is based upon (A) any breach of any representation, warranty or covenant of the Company contained herein, (B) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereof), the Disclosure Package, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Prospectus (the term Prospectus for the purpose of this Section 11 being deemed to include the Preliminary Prospectus included in the Registration Statement at the time it became effective, the Prospectus and the Prospectus as amended or supplemented by the Company), (C) any application or other document, or any amendment or supplement thereto, executed by the Company or based upon written information furnished by or on behalf of the Company filed in any jurisdiction (domestic or foreign) in order to qualify the Shares under the securities or blue sky laws thereof or filed with the Commission or any securities association or securities exchange (each an “Application”), (D) any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated in any such Registration Statement, or necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading, (E) any omission or alleged omission from the Disclosure Package , any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or any Application of a material fact necessary to make the statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; except in the case of (B), (D) and (E) above only insofar as any such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim arises out of or is based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission of a material fact contained in and in conformity with information furnished in writing by the Underwriters through the Representatives to the Company expressly for use in such

Registration Statement, Disclosure Package, Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or Application (that information being limited to that described in the last sentence of the first paragraph of Section 11(c) hereof). The indemnity agreement set forth in this Section 11(a) shall be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have.

(b) Each of the Selling Shareholders, severally not jointly, agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless each Underwriter and any person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of each Underwriter from and against any loss, expense, liability, damage or claim (including the reasonable cost of investigation) which, jointly or severally, any such Underwriter or controlling person may incur under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim arises out of or is based upon (A) any breach of any representation, warranty or covenant of such Selling Shareholder contained herein or in the Custody Agreement and Power of Attorney, (B) any failure on the part of such Selling Shareholders to comply with any applicable law, rule or regulation relating to the offering of securities being made pursuant to the Prospectus, (C) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment or part thereof), the Disclosure Package, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the Prospectus, or any Application, (D) any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated in such Registration Statement, or necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading, or (E) any omission or alleged omission from the Disclosure Package, any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or any Application of a material fact necessary to make the statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; except in the case of (C), (D) and (E) above only insofar as any such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim arises out of or is based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission of a material fact contained in and in conformity with information furnished in writing by such Selling Shareholder to the Company expressly for use in such Registration Statement, Disclosure Package, Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or Application; provided, however, that the indemnity agreement contained in this subsection (b) shall not require any such Selling Shareholder to reimburse the Underwriters for any loss, expense, liability, damage or claim in excess of the gross sale price of the Shares sold by such Selling Shareholders pursuant to this Agreement. The indemnity agreement set forth in this Section 11(b) shall be in addition to any liabilities that the Selling Shareholders may otherwise have.

If any action is brought against an Underwriter or controlling person in respect of which indemnity may be sought against the Company or the Selling Shareholders pursuant to subsection (a) or subsection (b) above, such Underwriter shall promptly notify the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, in writing of the institution of such action, and the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, shall assume the

defense of such action, including the employment of counsel and payment of expenses; provided, however, that any failure or delay to so notify the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, will not relieve the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, of any obligation hereunder, except to the extent that its ability to defend is actually impaired by such failure or delay. Such Underwriter or controlling person shall have the right to employ its or their own counsel in any such case, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Underwriter or such controlling person unless the employment of such counsel shall have been authorized in writing by the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, in connection with the defense of such action, or the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, shall not have employed counsel to have charge of the defense of such action within a reasonable time or such indemnified party or parties shall have reasonably concluded (based on the advice of counsel) that there may be defenses available to it or them which are different from or additional to those available to the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, (in which case neither the Company nor the Selling Shareholders shall have the right to direct the defense of such action on behalf of the indemnified party or parties), in any of which events such fees and expenses shall be borne by the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, and paid as incurred (it being understood, however, that neither the Company nor any Selling Shareholders shall be liable for the expenses of more than one separate firm of attorneys for the Underwriters or controlling persons in any one action or series of related actions in the same jurisdiction (other than local counsel in any such jurisdiction) representing the indemnified parties who are parties to such action). Anything in this paragraph to the contrary notwithstanding, neither the Company nor any Selling Shareholders shall be liable for any settlement of any such claim or action effected without its consent.

(c) Each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company and the Selling Shareholders, the Company’s directors, the Company’s officers that signed the Registration Statement, and any person who controls the Company or the Selling Shareholders within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and against any loss, expense, liability, damage or claim (including the reasonable cost of investigation) which the Company, the Selling Shareholders or any such person may incur under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim arises out of or is based upon (A) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereof), the Disclosure Package, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, the Prospectus, or any Application, (B) any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated in any such Registration Statement, or necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading, or (C) any omission or alleged omission from the Disclosure Package, any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or any Application of a material fact necessary to make the statements made therein, in the light of the

circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, but in each case only insofar as such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in such Registration Statement, Disclosure Package, Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or Application in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing by the Underwriters through the Representatives to the Company expressly for use therein. The concession and reallowance figures and the last sentence appearing in the third paragraph and the statements set forth in the ninth, fourteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth paragraphs under the caption “Underwriting” in the Preliminary Prospectus, the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (to the extent such statements relate to the Underwriters) constitute the only information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representatives to the Company for purposes of Section 3(p) and Section 3(q) and this Section 11.

If any action is brought against the Company, the Selling Shareholders or any such person in respect of which indemnity may be sought against any Underwriter pursuant to the foregoing paragraph, the Company, the Selling Shareholders or such person shall promptly notify the Representatives in writing of the institution of such action and the Representatives, on behalf of the Underwriters, shall assume the defense of such action, including the employment of counsel and payment of expenses. The Company, the Selling Shareholders or such person shall have the right to employ its own counsel in any such case, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of the Company, the Selling Shareholders or such person unless the employment of such counsel shall have been authorized in writing by the Representatives in connection with the defense of such action or the Representatives shall not have employed counsel to have charge of the defense of such action within a reasonable time or such indemnified party or parties shall have reasonably concluded (based on the advice of counsel) that there may be defenses available to it or them which are different from or additional to those available to the Underwriters (in which case the Representatives shall not have the right to direct the defense of such action on behalf of the indemnified party or parties), in any of which events such fees and expenses shall be borne by such Underwriter and paid as incurred (it being understood, however, that the Underwriters shall not be liable for the expenses of more than one separate firm of attorneys in any one action or series of related actions in the same jurisdiction (other than local counsel in any such jurisdiction) representing the indemnified parties who are parties to such action). Anything in this paragraph to the contrary notwithstanding, no Underwriter shall be liable for any settlement of any such claim or action effected without the written consent of the Representatives.

(d) If the indemnification provided for in this Section 11 is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this Section 11 in respect of any losses, expenses, liabilities, damages or claims referred to therein, then each applicable indemnifying party, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, expenses, liabilities, damages or claims (i) in such

proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters from the offering of the Shares or (ii) if (but only if) the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company, of the Selling Shareholders and of the Underwriters in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, expenses, liabilities, damages or claims, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total proceeds from the offering (net of underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting expenses) received by the Company or the Selling Shareholders, as applicable, bear to the underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters. The relative fault of the Company, of the Selling Shareholders and of the Underwriters shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission relates to information supplied by the Company, by the Selling Shareholders or by the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The amount paid or payable by a party as a result of the losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to above shall be deemed to include any legal or other fees or expenses reasonably incurred by such party in connection with investigating or defending any claim or action.

(e) The Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 11 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in subsection (d)(i) and, if applicable (ii), above. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 11, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the underwriting discounts and commissions applicable to the Shares purchased by such Underwriter and no Selling Shareholders shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the net proceeds of the Shares sold by such Selling Shareholders pursuant to this Agreement. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 11 are several in proportion to their respective underwriting commitments and not joint. The Selling Shareholders’ obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 11 are several in proportion to the net sale price of the Shares sold by such Selling Shareholder and not joint.

(f) The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter and its affiliates and each person, if any, who controls each Underwriter and its affiliates within the meaning of either Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities

(including, without limitation, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with defending or investigating any such action or claim) (i) caused by any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any material prepared by or with the consent of the Company for distribution to participants in connection with the Directed Share Program, or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; (ii) as a result of the failure of any participant to pay for and accept delivery of Directed Shares that the participant has agreed to purchase; or (iii) related to, arising out of, or in connection with the Directed Share Program, in each case, other than as a result of willful misconduct or bad faith of any of the Underwriters.

12. Survival:

The indemnity and contribution agreements contained in Section 11 and the covenants, warranties and representations of the Company and the Selling Shareholders contained in Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, or any person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of each Underwriter or by or on behalf of the Company, its directors and officers, each of the Selling Shareholders or any person who controls the Company or any Selling Shareholders within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and shall survive any termination of this Agreement or the sale and delivery of the Shares. The Company, each of the Selling Shareholders and each Underwriter agree promptly to notify the others of the commencement of any litigation or proceeding against it and, in the case of the Company, against any of the Company’s officers and directors, in connection with the sale and delivery of the Shares, or in connection with the Registration Statement or Prospectus.

13. Duties:

Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to create a partnership, joint venture or agency relationship between the parties. The Underwriters undertake to perform such duties and obligations only as expressly set forth herein. Such duties and obligations of the Underwriters with respect to the Shares shall be determined solely by the express provisions of this Agreement, and the Underwriters shall not be liable except for the performance of such duties and obligations with respect to the Shares as are specifically set forth in this Agreement. Each of the Company and the Selling Shareholders acknowledges and agrees that: (i) the purchase and sale of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement, including the determination of the public offering price of the Shares and any related discounts and commissions, is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company and the Selling Shareholders, on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other hand, and the Company and the Selling Shareholders are

capable of evaluating and understanding and understand and accept the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; (ii) in connection with each transaction contemplated hereby and the process leading to such transaction each Underwriter is and has been acting solely as a principal and is not the financial advisor, agent or fiduciary of the Company, the Selling Shareholders or their respective affiliates, shareholders, creditors or employees or any other party; (iii) no Underwriter has assumed or will assume an advisory, agency or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company or the Selling Shareholders with respect to any of the transactions contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company or the Selling Shareholders on other matters); and (iv) the several Underwriters and their respective affiliates may be engaged in a broad range of transactions that involve interests that differ from those of the Company and the Selling Shareholders and that the several Underwriters have no obligation to disclose any of such interests. The Company and the Selling Shareholders acknowledges that the Underwriters disclaim any implied duties (including any fiduciary duty), covenants or obligations arising from the Underwriters’ performance of the duties and obligations expressly set forth herein. The Company and the Selling Shareholders hereby waive and release, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims that the Company and the Selling Shareholders may have against the several Underwriters with respect to any breach or alleged breach of agency or fiduciary duty.

14. Notices:

Except as otherwise herein provided, all statements, requests, notices and agreements shall be in writing or by telegram and, if to the Underwriters, shall be sufficient in all respects if delivered to Friedman, Billings, Xxxxxx & Co., Inc., 0000 00xx Xxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx 00000, Attention: Syndicate Department; if to the Company, shall be sufficient in all respects if delivered to the Company at the offices of the Company at Xxxxxxxx Xxxx, 00 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx XX 00, Xxxxxxx; or if to the Selling Shareholders, c/o Xxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx Xxxx, 00 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx XX 00, Xxxxxxx.

15. Governing Law; Headings:

THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY, AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, WITHOUT REGARD TO CONFLICTS OF LAWS PRINCIPLES. The section headings in this Agreement have been inserted as a matter of convenience of reference and are not a part of this Agreement.

16. Parties at Interest:

The Agreement herein set forth has been and is made solely for the benefit of the Underwriters, the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the controlling persons, directors and officers referred to in Section 11 hereof, and their respective successors,

assigns, executors and administrators. No other person, partnership, association or corporation (including a purchaser, as such purchaser, from any of the Underwriters) shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement.

17. Counterparts and Facsimile Signatures:

This Agreement may be signed by the parties in counterparts which together shall constitute one and the same agreement among the parties. A facsimile signature shall constitute an original signature for all purposes.

If the foregoing correctly sets forth the understanding among the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters, please so indicate in the space provided below for the purpose, whereupon this Agreement shall constitute a binding agreement among the Company, the Selling Shareholders and the Underwriters.

Very truly yours,

CASTLEPOINT HOLDINGS, LTD.

By:
	By:
	Title:

CORONADO FUND LLC
XXXXXXX TIMBERLAND, INC.
THE XXXXXXX X. XXXXXX FOUNDATION
XXXXX AND XXXXXXX XXXXX III, JTBE
XXXXXX X. XXXXX
XXXXX X. AND XXXXXXX X. XXXX
XXXX XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXX

By:
	Name:
	Title:	Attorney-in-Fact for each of the Selling Shareholders listed above

Accepted and agreed to as of the date first above written:

FRIEDMAN, BILLINGS, XXXXXX & CO., INC.
XXXXX, XXXXXXXX & XXXXX, INC.
XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXX SECURITIES LLC
XXXXX XXXXXXX & CO.

Acting on behalf of themselves and as Representatives of the other Underwriters named on Schedule II hereto.

By:	FRIEDMAN, BILLINGS, XXXXXX & CO., INC.

	By:
		Name
		Title

Schedule I

	Number of Initial	Number of Option
Name of Party Selling Shares	Shares to be Sold	Shares to be Sold

CastlePoint Holdings, Ltd.	6,072,000	910,800

Coronado Fund LLC	20,000

XxXxx and Xxxxxxx Xxxxx III, JTBE	9,000

Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx	7,500

Xxxxxxx Timberland, Inc.	9,500

Xxxxx X. and Xxxxxxx X. Xxxx	3,500

The Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx Foundation	20,000

Xxxx X. XxXxxxx, XXX/SEP	13,500

Xxxx X. XxXxxxx, Xxxx XXX	20,000

Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx XxXxxxx, Xxxx XXX	16,500

Total	6,191,500	910,800

A-1

Schedule II

Underwriter	Number of Initial Shares to be Purchased	Maximum Number of Option Shares to be Purchased

FRIEDMAN, BILLINGS, XXXXXX & CO., INC.
XXXXX, XXXXXXXX & XXXXX, INC.
XXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXX SECURITIES LLC
XXXXX XXXXXXX & CO.

Total

A-2

Schedule III

Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses

1. Issuer Free Writing Prospectus filed with the SEC on March , 2007.

A-3

Schedule IV

Pricing Information

Number of Initial Shares:		6,191,500

Price per share:		$

A-4

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CASTLEPOINT HOLDINGS, LTD. Common Shares UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

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