City sounds alarm on £40bn foreign M&A offensive targeting ‘cheap’ UK firms Markets A group of City grandees has sounded the alarm on the wave of foreign firms picking off rivals from London’s stock market, after a flurry of unsolicited offers took the combined value of UK companies poised to leave Britain’s ailing bourse to £43bn. Some 22 listed companies have already accepted or received bids that would [...]
Bank of England Live: Interest rates held as hawks warn of ‘highly uncertain’ energy prices Markets Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has today decided to hold interest rates at 3.75 per cent in a hawkish display. In last month’s decision, the Bank held rates in a unanimous decision. Afterwards, short-term gilt yields, which reflect government borrowing costs, sharply rose as traders priced [...]
Profit slides as Beazley eyes Bermuda amid Zurich £8bn takeover Insurance One of the UK’s biggest listed insurance firms suffered a slide in profit as the company prepares to be acquired by Swiss giant Zurich. FTSE 100 insurer Beazley posted pre-tax profit of $1.14bn (£870m) for the year to end December 2025, a fall of around a fifth compared to the previous year amid a softening [...]
Zurich to leverage Beazley’s Lloyd’s platform for global expansion March 2, 2026 Zurich Insurance Group has reached a formal agreement to acquire FTSE 100 giant Beazley, aiming to create a global leader in speciality insurance. Under the terms of the deal, Beazley shareholders will be entitled to receive a total of 1,335p per Beazley share, which puts the cost of the deal at around $10.9bn (£8.14bn). The [...]
Zurich to acquire Beazley in landmark £8bn specialty insurance merger February 4, 2026 Following two previous rejections last month, Lloyd’s of London underwriter Beazley has confirmed in a joint statement on Wednesday morning that it has reached an agreement in principle with Zurich. The offer proposed by Zurich has a total value of 1,335 pence per share. This is composed of a 1,310p cash payment from Zurich and [...]
Lloyd’s of London’s Beazley again rejects Zurich’s £7.7bn takeover bid January 22, 2026 Beazley, the prominent Lloyd’s of London underwriter, has unanimously rejected a 1,280p per share cash proposal from Zurich Insurance Group, which it says “materially undervalues” the firm’s future prospects. The board noted that this latest offer is actually lower than a 1,315p proposal Zurich made in June last year, which valued the firm at approximately [...]
Zurich makes £7.7bn play for Beazley after FTSE 100 firm rejected first offer January 19, 2026 Zurich Insurance Group has launched its second public pursuit of Lloyd’s of London prominent underwriter Beazley with a revised proposal at 1.280 pence per share, valuing the firm at just under £8bn. At the start of the month, Zurich privately submitted a proposal to the Beazley board to acquire 100 per cent of the company [...]
Beazley: Shares slump after profit falls August 13, 2025 Shares in Lloyd’s of London insurance group Beazley fell more than 11 per cent after the company reported a sharp drop in profit for the first half of 2025. Beazley reported a profit before tax of $502.5m (£371.9m) for the six months ending 30 June 2025, down from the $728.9m reported in the first half [...]
Lloyd’s of London expects £1.8bn hit from Californian wildfires March 10, 2025 Lloyd’s of London, the historic insurance market, has reported a 6.5 per cent increase in premiums written for 2024. In a trading update published this morning ahead of its full results, which are set to be released on 20 March 2025, Lloyd’s said gross written premiums increased £55.5bn from £52.1bn in the prior year. Lloyd’s [...]
Beazley records record profit despite wildfire losses March 4, 2025 Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley has reported a record profit before tax of $1.4bn (£1.1bn) for 2024, a 13 per cent increase from the previous year. The specialist insurer also announced a $500m (£394m) share buyback programme alongside a 76 per cent rise in its ordinary dividend to 25p per share. Gross insurance written premiums [...]