Beazley rejects Zurich acquisition proposals, says undervalues its prospects as independent

Beazley has announced this morning that its board has rejected the acquisition proposal from Zurich Insurance Group, saying that the offer “materially undervalues Beazley and its longer-term prospects as an independent company.”

Earlier this week the acquisition proposals were revealed when Zurich said it submitted a proposal to the Beazley board on January 4th 2026 to buy 100% of the company for 1,230 pence in cash per share, but then raised the offer to 1,280 pence per share yesterday (around US $10.3 billion in offer size).

Beazley immediately said it had not had time to consider the updated offer, but now it has and it’s a firm rejection at this stage, following a detailed evaluation of the Zurich offer by its board and advisers.

Interestingly, Beazley has now disclosed that Zurich has been making offers since last June, further saying that the latest offer made this week was actually below ones made back at that time.

The company explained, “The Board received three proposals from Zurich in June last year and engaged with Zurich appropriately, including providing Zurich with certain limited due diligence information in a good faith effort to come to a shared understanding of value.

“The terms of Zurich’s latest Proposal are below the last proposal put forward by Zurich in late June last year and rejected by Beazley, which valued the Company at 1,315 pence per share at an implied equity value of £8.4 billion, equivalent to approximately 2.4x tangible book value as at 31 December 2024.”

The company further said that its board is “very confident in Beazley’s standalone prospects as a publicly listed company and in the attractiveness of Beazley’s business model fundamentals and believes that Beazley is uniquely positioned within the global insurance market to maximise long-term shareholder value and realise the full potential of its specialty platform.”

Beazley highlights its business strength through five core attributes that it believes deliver strategic differentiation and value, being: a track record of delivering shareholders value; its underwriting excellence; the fact it is a leader in cyber risk; delivers superior return generation; and has strong capital and reserve levels.

Then, Beazley highlights its prospects, which is where it brings up its recently announce venture into the Bermuda market and its intention to be a leader in cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS).

As we wrote earlier this week, a combination of Beazley and Zurich could have been a powerhouse in cyber, ILS and third-party capital use, with Beazley bringing a strong background in all three areas and a plan to expand such initiatives much further.

Beazley believes its prospects to deliver shareholder value may be better by going it alone, it now seems.

The company points to its “notable milestones achieved over the second half of 2025, including: i) the establishment of a Bermuda insurer, completing the globalisation of the Company, with access to all major markets including a significant presence in the US; ii) investments in expertise in the fast growing and exciting domain of transition underwriting; and iii) focusing on innovation-led growth, including in Alternative Risk Transfer (ILS and Captives).”

For Beazley, the Bermuda venture and the prospect of cementing a leading position in areas such as insurance-linked securities for cyber risks are clearly seen as drivers of value for its shareholders, playing a role in its decision to reject Zurich’s offer.

This morning’s announcement from Beazley has been made without the consent of Zurich, so it will be interesting to see if there is any response or revision to the proposals made.

Analysts have said they believe Zurich could afford a higher offer, perhaps an improvement on the June offering price.

Analysts from Jefferies also noted that previously Beazley had said the offers from Zurich significantly undervalued it, but now they say it materially undervalued, which they said might imply a slight softening of opinion.

We’ll have to wait and see if Zurich makes any comment, or doubles-down with a higher bid.

Recall that, the Financial Times reported that Zurich CEO Mario Greco told the publication it has been preparing to launch a syndicate at the specialist Lloyd’s insurance and reinsurance marketplace, as it awaits a response from its proposal to acquire Beazley. The Zurich CEO did not say whether the syndicate would go ahead if the bid for Beazley succeeds.