Zurich makes £7.7bn takeover bid for Beazley, shares rocket

(Sharecast News) - Beazley shares rocketed on Monday after Zurich Financial said it had made a £7.7bn takeover offer for the London-listed insurer. The offer of 1,280p a share in cash represents a 56% premium to the closing share price on Friday, and a 32% premium to the all-time high of 973p on 6 June 2025.

The latest proposal followed an earlier approach made by Zurich on 4 January, at 1,230p a share, which was rejected on 16 January on the basis that it significantly undervalued Beazley.

Zurich said on Monday that a deal would create a global leader in specialty insurance with about $15bn of gross written premiums.

"This combination of two highly complementary businesses would establish a leading global Specialty platform, based in the UK which would also leverage Beazley's Lloyd's of London presence," Zurich said.

"Zurich is a disciplined acquirer with a strong focus on returns, and believes the transaction would deliver attractive returns for both Zurich's and Beazley's shareholders.

"Zurich has submitted this significantly increased proposal with a view to securing engagement from the board of Beazley so that both companies can deliver a transaction."

For its part, Beazley said it had not yet had the chance to consider Zurich's improved offer. "We will update shareholders in due course. In the meantime, Beazley shareholders are urged to take no action," it said.

At 1520 GMT, Beazley shares were up 39% at 1,137p.

Zurich currently holds a 1.5% stake in Beazley. Under UK takeover rules, the global multi-line insurer has until 16 February to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away.

Zurich's chief executive, Mario Greco, told the Financial Times that the latest bid was the group's fifth offer for Beazley since its first takeover approach about a year ago.

"It was time to go public and eventually have [Beazley's] shareholders say what they think," he said.