Zurich has reached an agreement in principle with Beazley on the key financial terms of a potential proposed cash offer for all existing and to-be-issued ordinary shares in the specialist insurance company.
Readers may recall that on January 4, 2026, Zurich submitted a proposal to acquire 100% of the London-based insurance company for 1,230 pence in cash per Beazley share. On January 16, Beazley’s board rejected the proposal.
Zurich returned on January 19 with an improved proposal of 1,280p per share, but it was again rejected, with the board saying the proposal “significantly undervalued Beazley and its long-term prospects as an independent company”.
Now, however, under the terms of the new proposal, Beazley shareholders will be entitled to receive a total value of up to 1,335p per Beazley share.
This reportedly includes a cash offer price of 1,310p, with Beazley paying its shareholders a permitted dividend of up to 25p for the year to 31 December 2025, pending completion.
Beazley explained that if the permitted dividend was declared and paid in full, its shareholders would receive a total of approximately £8 billion, which is 62.8% higher than Beazley’s market capitalization implied by the closing price of 820p on 16 January 2026.
The Beazley board has reportedly “carefully considered” the new proposal with its advisers and concluded that if the intention to make an offer is clear in accordance with Article 2.7 of the Code and the remaining terms of the offer and the final transaction documents are satisfactorily resolved, the financial terms are sufficient to favor recommending the terms to shareholders.
At the same time, Zurich said it looked forward to commencing confirmatory due diligence on Beazley and working with the specialist insurer on a binding offer announcement.
The impact of such a transaction would be the merger of two highly complementary businesses, creating a leading global specialty platform with approximately $15 billion in total written premiums, headquartered in the UK and leveraging Beazley’s Lloyd’s of London business.
