Zurich Insurance Group has submitted an improved proposal to acquire specialist insurer Beazley for 1,280p a share in cash, after the latter’s board rejected an earlier proposal which they believed significantly undervalued the company.
On January 4, 2026, Zurich submitted a proposal of 1,230p per share in cash from Beazley to acquire 100% of the London-based insurance company, but the proposal was rejected by Beazley’s board on January 16.
Today, Zurich confirmed its original, revised and improved proposal of 1,280p in cash per Beazley share, which represents a 56% premium to Beazley’s closing price of 820p on 16 January 2026, the last working day before the proposal was submitted.
This new offer price is also a 56% premium to Beazley’s volume-weighted average share price of 822 pence for the 30-day period ending January 16, 2026; on the same day, it is a 27% increase from the sell-side analysts’ median target price for Beazley of 1,010 pence; and a 32% increase from Beazley’s all-time high share price of 973 pence on June 6, 2025.
Shares in Beazley rose around 40% to 1,192p following news of today’s increased offer, although this is still below Zurich’s latest offer to acquire 100% of the airline.
Zurich said in a statement about the proposal: “Zurich believes that its proposal provides Beazley shareholders with immediate and certain cash value for their investment, a level that exceeds what Beazley can achieve within a reasonable timeframe by executing its strategy (as described at Beazley Capital Markets Day on November 25, 2025) and that fully reflects Beazley’s fundamental value.”
Zurich, a large global insurance company, believes the transaction will create a global leader in specialty insurance with approximately $15 billion in gross written premiums, “superior data availability and underwriting expertise, leading market and distribution capabilities, and outstanding reinsurance and technology infrastructure.”
The acquisition of Beazley, which Zurich describes as a “highly complementary business”, will create a leading, UK-based global specialist platform that will also leverage Beazley’s presence in the Lloyd’s insurance and reinsurance markets.
Zurich continued: “The transaction will be consistent with the strategic priorities noted at Zurich’s Investor Day on November 18, 2025. The transaction will be funded through existing cash and new debt facilities, with the balance funded through an equity placement, and will contribute to the achievement of Zurich’s 2027 financial targets.”
Zurich is one of Switzerland’s best-known insurance companies, with a strong global presence in commercial insurance and describes itself as the market leader in the UK. In fact, the company’s total global property and casualty insurance premiums in 2024 will be US$47 billion, of which approximately US$5 billion will come from the UK. At the same time, the company strengthened its strategic direction by creating a global specialty division to focus more on its specialty businesses.
“Zurich is a disciplined acquirer with a strong focus on returns and believes the transaction will generate attractive returns for Zurich and Beazley shareholders. Zurich submitted this significantly increased proposal to secure the involvement of the Beazley board so that both companies can deliver the transaction,” Zurich said.
Since news of the two proposals was announced, analysts at RBC Capital Markets have commented that it was a reasonable offer “given the uncertainty surrounding Beazley’s earnings outlook over the next few years given softness in the Lloyd’s and U.S. end markets.”
Analysts at Jefferies also commented that while the two offers were surprising, perhaps the focus at the investor day should not be on the professional product line.
“On the one hand, we believe the proposal offers fair value, the strategic rationale is logical and a premium of +56% would generally be enough to warrant a recommendation on the deal.
“On the other hand, we note that acquisition P/E ratios ranged from 1.6x to 2.5x in the last cycle. Since Beazley is the market leader, the 2.0x P/E ratio offered may not be that high,” Jefferies analysts said.
In its statement on the latest proposal, Zurich said it could not guarantee an offer would be made but had reiterated to Beazley its desire to move forward faster.
