Zurich Makes Offer to Buy Beazley for Equivalent of $10.3 Billion

• By: AnneMarie McPherson Spears
• January 22, 2026

Zurich Insurance Group AG has made a £7.7 billion bid to buy Beazley Plc. The offer is equivalent to $10.3 billion and is the fifth proposal by Swiss-based insurer Zurich to acquire UK-based specialty insurer Beazley over the past year.

Under the terms submitted to Beazley’s board on Monday, Zurich would purchase Beazley at 1,280 pence a share in cash, a 56% premium to Beazley’s closing share price of 820 pence on Friday, Jan. 16. Earlier in January, Zurich had proposed a rate of 1,230 pence in cash per share, which was rejected by Beazley’s board.

The transaction “would create a global leader in specialty insurance with c.$15 billion of gross written premiums, exceptional data availability and underwriting expertise, leading market and distribution capabilities, and outstanding reinsurance and technology infrastructures,” Zurich said in its announcement of the offer.

Beazley operates in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia, with net insurance written premiums of $2.6 billion in the first half of 2025, of which a third comes from property and specialty risks, according to Bloomberg News.

Beazley’s board announced it had received the offer and has not yet had a chance to consider it.

“I made an offer, it’s distant from being accepted, and now the shareholders have to speak about it,” Zurich CEO Mario Greco told Bloomberg in a phone interview. “Beazley is a very complementary business to ours, there is nothing we don’t need or don’t like. The fit is very strong.”

An unidentified Beazley shareholder said they believe the proposal still undervalues the company that peak-cycle earnings would “demand a higher bid,” according to Bloomberg. Beazley shares soared by 46% after the announcement to reach the highest in the company’s history.

Under U.K. takeover rules, Zurich has until Feb. 16 to announce its intention of a firm offer.

AnneMarie McPherson Spears is IA news editor.