Endurance Initial Investors Agree to Sell 8 Million Shares in Block Trade

Business Wire, May 5, 2005

PEMBROKE, Bermuda -- Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH) today announced that two of its initial investors, Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners entities, have agreed to sell 8 million ordinary shares in a block trade.

Goldman Sachs & Co. has agreed to purchase the ordinary shares from Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners and subsequently sell the ordinary shares to public investors. The ordinary shares are being offered under Endurance's Form S-3 shelf registration statement and represent approximately 13% of the ordinary shares outstanding. Endurance will not receive any proceeds from the sale.

After the completion of the sale, all of the initial investors in Endurance will own a total of approximately 32% of Endurance's ordinary shares.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the ordinary shares in any state in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

Any offering will be made only by means of a written prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Copies of the written prospectus may be obtained from Goldman Sachs, Prospectus Department, 85 Broad Street, New York, New York, 10004 (telephone no. 212-902-1000).

About Endurance Specialty Holdings

Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. is a global provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. Through its operating subsidiaries, Endurance currently writes property per risk treaty reinsurance, property catastrophe reinsurance, casualty treaty reinsurance, property individual risks, casualty individual risks, and other specialty lines. Endurance's operating subsidiaries have been assigned a group rating of A (Excellent) from A.M. Best, A2 by Moody's and A- from Standard & Poor's. Endurance's headquarters are located at Wellesley House, 90 Pitts Bay Road, Pembroke HM 08, Bermuda and its mailing address is Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., Suite No. 784, No. 48 Par-la-Ville Road, Hamilton HM 11, Bermuda. For more information about Endurance, please visit http://www.endurance.bm.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this press release may include forward-looking statements which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. Such statements may include forward-looking statements both with respect to us in general and the insurance and reinsurance sectors specifically, both as to underwriting and investment matters. Statements which include the words "expect," "intend," "plan," "believe," "project," "anticipate," "seek," "will," and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature identify forward-looking statements in this press release for purposes of the U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or may be important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, competition, possible terrorism or the outbreak of war, the frequency or severity of unpredictable catastrophic events, changes in demand for insurance or reinsurance, rating agency actions, uncertainties in our reserving process, a change in our tax status, acceptance of our products, the availability of reinsurance or retrocessional coverage, retention of key personnel, political conditions, changes in accounting policies, changes in general economic conditions and other factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation publicly to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.