Zurich Insurance said to near Beazley deal, equity sale, Bloomberg News reports (updated)
27/02/2026 15:16
Adds details from report in paragraph 2, shares and context in paragraph 3 & 4, respectively Feb 27 (Reuters) - Zurich Insurance Group ZURN.S is likely to announce a firm, recommended bid for Beazley BEZG.L as early as Monday and raise billions of dollars in equity to fund the deal, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The UK speciality insurer's shares, which had jumped as much as 46% when Zurich's interest was first disclosed , hit a fresh record high of 1275 pence on Friday. Zurich is expected to tap investors for $3 billion to $5 billion by the March 4 deadline and plans to finance any deal through existing cash, new debt facilities and an equity raise, the report said. Beazley said earlier in February, after rejecting previous multiple bids, that it would recommend a sweetened 8 billion pound ($10.97 billion) takeover by the Swiss company if a firm offer is made. Both Zurich and Beazley declined Reuters' requests for comment. (Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Ankita Bora in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas) ((Yamini.Kalia@thomsonreuters.com))