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Zurich reveals £7.7bn takeover bid for Lloyd’s insurer Beazley

Takeover of FTSE 100-listed Lloyd’s of London insurer would create a giant speciality group with about $15 billion of gross written premiums

Patrick Hosking, Financial Editor | Simon Freeman, Business News Editor

Monday January 19 2026, 1.43pm GMT, The Times

Investments

FTSE 100

Switzerland

Looking up at the Lloyds of London Building in the heart of London's financial district under a blue sky. — Zurich plans to “leverage Beazley’s Lloyd’s of London presence”JASON WELLS/LOOP IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

The insurance giant Zurich has launched what could be one of 2026’s biggest takeovers as it bid £7.7 billion for Beazley, the London-listed insurer, in a proposed deal that could create a speciality group with a combined $15 billion of gross written premiums.

Mario Greco, chief executive of Zurich Insurance Group, denied “going hostile” after bypassing the board of Beazley to go directly to its shareholders with a surprise cash offer.

It emerged that Zurich had been wooing the Lloyd’s of London insurer behind the scenes since at least last summer and this first public offer was its fifth in total.

Greco told The Times: “I don’t mean at all to be unfriendly, I’ve been very patient and transparent.”

Zurich announced that an earlier offer of £12.30 per Beazley share, tabled on January 4, was rejected by the Beazley board on Friday, and that it was lifting that offer to £12.80 without putting it to Beazley first.

Beazley appeared wrongfooted by the announcement, issuing a statement saying it had “not yet had the chance to consider” the higher offer. The previous offer “significantly undervalued” the company, it added.

Beazley shares shot up by 42.7 per cent on Monday, ending the day at £11.70, after the offer was revealed. Zurich said it was pitched at a 56 per cent premium to the undisturbed Beazley price and 32 per cent higher than the all-time record price achieved last June.

The offer is the second approach for a FTSE 100 company this year after the miners Rio Tinto and Glencore said earlier this month they were in preliminary discussions about a combination.

Beazley was founded in 1986 with a handful of desks and has grown to become one of the world’s biggest specialist insurers, focusing on everything from cybersecurity and satellites to fine art and pleasure yachts.

Zurich is Switzerland’s biggest insurer, operating in general and life assurance. It employs 55,000 people worldwide, including 4,500 in the UK, and weighs in at SwFr83 billion (£77 billion), about ten times the value of Beazley.

Ten years ago it raised eyebrows after pulling out of a provisionally agreed £5.6 billion offer for another FTSE 100 company, RSA Insurance, citing its own deteriorating financial position because of a major loss in Tianjin, China.

Greco, 66, an Italian who has run Zurich since 2016, played down the prospect of job losses that might result from the new combination. The deal was not about synergies and savings, he said. “This is about skills and knowledge.”

Asked what he would do if Beazley rejected his latest offer, Greco said: “Let’s see.”

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Analysts said the bid would focus attention on other insurers seen as possible bid candidates. Shares in Hiscox rose 9.1 per cent to close at £15.16, while Lancashire Holdings rose 4 per cent to 624p.

Shares in Zurich ended the day 0.6 per cent lower after the company said part of the bid would be financed by a share offer.

Derald Goh at Jefferies said that while the 56 per cent premium appeared generous, the differentiated cyber franchise and market-leading return-on-equity record suggested Beazley was “deserving of a better offer”.

Zurich said its proposal would provide Beazley shareholders with “immediate and certain cash value for their investment at a level that exceeds what Beazley could achieve over a reasonable timeframe”.

It added: “The transaction would create a global leader in specialty insurance with about $15 billion of gross written premiums, exceptional data availability and underwriting expertise, leading market and distribution capabilities and outstanding reinsurance and technology infrastructures.”

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Under City takeover rules, Zurich has until February 16 to submit a formal offer for Beazley or walk away. Beazley said it would provide an update in due course.

Beazley’s shares are widely dispersed, with the biggest shareholders — MFS, Fidelity Management & Research and Wellington — each holding stakes of over 4 per cent.

Goldman Sachs is advising Zurich while Beazley is using JP Morgan and Barclays.