Beazley shareholders approve Zurich takeover
- Beazley PLC shareholders voted to approve the company's acquisition by Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. - The shareholder approval clears the way for Zurich Insurance to buy Beazley, according to a press release today. - Deal expands Zurich's global insurance footprint and will trigger regulatory reviews and integration planning (investing.com)
Beazley shareholders voted to approve Zurich Insurance Group’s £8.1 billion cash takeover, moving the deal to the next court and regulatory stage. (investegate.co.uk) At a court meeting on April 22, 2026, 83.21% of scheme shareholders voted for the transaction, representing 99.91% of the shares cast. At a separate general meeting the same day, 99.92% of votes backed the special resolution needed to implement it. (londonstockexchange.com) Zurich and Beazley announced the recommended offer on March 2, 2026. Zurich said it would pay 930 pence a share in cash, and Beazley shareholders would also keep a permitted 25 pence interim dividend due on May 1, 2026. (beazley.com) That package values Beazley at about £8.2 billion, or roughly $11.0 billion on a fully diluted basis. Zurich said the combined business would write about $15 billion in gross written premiums and be headquartered in the United Kingdom. (zurich.com) Beazley is a specialty insurer, a business that focuses on harder-to-price risks such as cyber, marine, political violence and professional liability rather than standard home and auto cover. Beazley said in its 2025 annual report that it operates across Europe, North America, Latin America, Bermuda and Asia. (beazley.com) The deal also gives Zurich a bigger foothold in Lloyd’s of London, the centuries-old insurance marketplace where insurers pool capital to cover large and unusual risks. S&P Global wrote in February that buying Beazley would make Zurich the biggest player in that market and give it a Lloyd’s platform it did not already have. (spglobal.com) Zurich has already raised part of the money for the purchase. On March 3, 2026, the company said it had raised CHF 3.9 billion, or about $5.0 billion, through a share placement to partly finance the acquisition. (zurich.com) The transaction still needs court sanction and regulatory approvals before it can close. Beazley said on April 22 that it expects the scheme to become effective in the second half of 2026 if those steps are completed. (investegate.co.uk)
