Zurich seals the deal to buy Lloyd’s insurer Beazley for £8bn

Zurich expects the deal to deliver approximately $150 million of cost savings by 2029, with “meaningful capital synergies” of around $1 billion of “one-off capital extraction” within the first two years following the deal closing.

Zurich estimates incremental revenue growth opportunities of more than $1 billion per annum through the Beazley acquisition.

To part-fund the deal, Bloomberg has reported that Zurich is planning to raise anything up to $5 billion in equity. 

Sources told Bloomberg it is planning to raise anything between $3 billion and $5 billion to fund the deal. Zurich declined to comment to Intelligent Insurer.

Back in January, Zurich said it planned to finance any deal through existing cash and new debt, with the remainder funded through an equity placing.

Mario Greco, chief executive of Zurich, said: "This transaction is a strong step in accelerating Zurich's specialty strategy. Together with Beazley, we will create the world's leading specialty underwriter, with around $15 billion of pro forma gross written premiums, exceptional underwriting expertise and data capabilities, and leading access to global distribution."

Adrian Cox, chief executive of Beazley, previously said that a tie-up between the two could create “a very powerful engine” and that Zurich had talked about retaining the Beazley brand and moving $9 billion of business across to the specialist insurer. Combining with Zurich would expand Beazley’s reach beyond the 20 countries in which it now operates, adding new areas of insurance, such as construction, Cox said.

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