mergers & acquisitions

Willis Re, the reinsurance advisory and brokerage firm, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the US Reinsurance division of BMS Group (BMS Re, US). The deal includes BMS Intermediaries Inc., BMS Capital Advisory LLC, and BMS Re’s associated US reinsurance broking team based in London.

Verisk, the data analytics and technology provider, has acquired McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS), a geospatial intelligence and event response company that specialises in global real-time catastrophe and conflict event analysis.

Catastrophe risk software provider KatRisk has acquired RED, a specialist provider of catastrophe models, including earthquake, flood, landslide, and wind risk models.

Beazley, the London headquartered specialty insurance and reinsurance company, has reached an agreement to acquire kWh Analytics, a US-based renewable energy MGA, in a move that will see the firm get embedded into its MAP (Marine, Accident & Political) Risks team.

The boards of Zurich and Beazley have now agreed terms of the approximately £8.1 billion all-cash offer by Zurich for Beazley’s shares, while we understand that as the transaction proceeds it is business as usual for Beazley’s Bermuda cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) plans.

After Beazley rejected Zurich’s acquisition proposals last month and in 2025, the pair have now reached an agreement in principle on the key financial terms of a possible recommended cash offer, with Zurich lifting the offer to a total value of up to 1,335 pence per Beazley share.

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.”

Yesterday the news broke that global giant Zurich Insurance Group has made a number of proposals to acquire London headquartered specialty insurance and reinsurance company Beazley and it’s worth considering what this could mean for cyber, ILS and the use of third-party capital by these firms.

With the announcement today that insurance and reinsurance specialist Vantage Group is set to be acquired by Howard Hughes Holdings, the firm’s third-party collateralized reinsurance capital business AdVantage received a positive mention from the acquirer’s executives during an analyst call.

Vantage Group Holdings Ltd., the specialty insurance and reinsurance group with a collateralized underwriting arm under the AdVantage strategy, has announced it is to be acquired by the Bill Ackman linked Howard Hughes Holdings, while his hedge fund Pershing Square will manage Vantage’s investment assets going forwards.