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., it was revealed that Beazley had rejected offers from Zurich in 2025 and January 2026, with the most recent of these proposals to purchase 100% of Beazley for 1,280 pence per share rejected on January 22nd.At the time, Beazley said that the offer “materially undervalues Beazley and its longer-term prospects as an independent company,” and the specialist, London-headquartered insurer emphasised that the terms of this offer were below Zurich’s June 2025 bid, which valued the company at 1,315 pence per share.Under the terms of the latest proposal to acquire the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Beazley, the firm’s shareholders would be entitled to receive a total value of up to 1,335 pence per Beazley share, so higher than the June 2025 bid.

This new proposal is comprised of an offer price of 1,310 pence in cash, and Beazley paying its shareholders permitted dividend(s) in respect of the year ended December 31st, 2025, of up to 25 pence prior to completion.The pair explain that the new offer price, excluding the permitted dividend, represents a premium of 59.8% to Beazley’s closing share price of 820 pence on January 16th, 2026, the last business day prior to the offer period; 59.4% to Beazley’s volume weighted average share price of 822 pence for the 30-day period ended on January 16th, 2026; and, 34.6% to Beazley’s all-time high share price, prior to the offer period, of 973 pence on June 6th, 2025.Beazley says that if the permitted dividend is declared and paid in full, its shareholders would receive, in aggregate, around £8 billion, which is almost 63% higher than Beazley’s market capitalisation as implied by the firm’s closing share price of 820 pence on January 16th, 2026.

“The Board of Beazley has carefully considered the Proposal, together with its advisers.The Board has concluded that the financial terms of the Proposal are at a level that it would be minded to recommend to Beazley shareholders should a firm intention to make an offer pursuant to Rule 2.7 of the Code be announced on these financial terms, and subject to the satisfactory resolution and agreement of the other terms of the offer and definitive transaction documentation,” said Beazley’s Board on the proposal.Zurich says that it is now looking forward to starting its confirmatory due diligence on Beazley and working with Beazley towards a binding offer announcement.

In today’s announcement, it is again stressed that the combination of the two “highly complementary businesses” would create a global specialty platform with some $15 billion of gross written premiums, based in the UK, leveraging Beazley’s strong presence at Lloyd’s., the combination of Beazley and Zurich, which has now taken a step closer, has the potential to create a powerhouse in cyber, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and the use of third-party capital by the insurers.Since the announcement, Helena Kingsley-Tomkins, VP-Senior Credit Officer at Moody’s Ratings, has commented, saying that the deal would accelerate Zurich’s specialty insurance ambitions, adding scale in fast‑growing areas like cyber.

“But the deal’s high price and integration hurdles mean Zurich would face elevated execution risk and a short-term weakening of surplus capital,” added Kingsley-Tomkins.Analysts at Peel Hunt have now also commented on the deal, stating that they see strategic merit from both sides.“We believe this is a fair offer and discounts Beazley’s future prospects, as the rate cycle softens, including the excess capital we estimate Beazley will generate in the next three years,” said analysts..

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