’Zurich looks forward to commencing its confirmatory due diligence on Beazley and working with Beazley towards a binding offer announcement,’ says insurer
Zurich has agreed an £8bn deal in principle to buy UK insurer Beazley.
In a joint statement this morning (4 February 2026), Zurich and Beazley confirmed that they had reached an agreement in principle on the key financial terms of a possible recommended cash offer.
Under the terms, Beazley shareholders would be entitled to receive a total value of up to 1,335 pence per Beazley share, with shareholders also set to receive a 25p dividend alongside the deal.
This comes two weeks after Beazley rejected a proposal that equates to 1,280 pence in cash per share.
However, after considering the latest proposal, Beazley said the board “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 be announced on these financial terms”.
Next steps
The deal represents premium of 59.8% to Beazley’s closing share price of 820 pence on 16 January 2026, being the last business day prior to the offer period.
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Zurich believes taking over Beazley would help to establish a leading global specialty platform, based in the UK, that would bring in around $15bn (£11.1bn) of GWP.
”Zurich looks forward to commencing its confirmatory due diligence on Beazley and working with Beazley towards a binding offer announcement,” Zurich said.
Under UK takeover code rules, Zurich is required – by no later than 5pm London time on 16 February 2026 – to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Beazley or to announce that it does not intend to make an offer.
His career began in 2019, when he joined a local north London newspaper after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a first-class honours degree in journalism.
He took up the position of deputy news editor at Insurance Times in March 2023, before being promoted to his current role in May 2024.View full Profile
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