Zurich In A Bid For More Than 5 Billion RSA
One of the largest European insurers is currently considering putting in a bid for rival Swiss company RSA, who bring the UK insurance through More Than. Following the announcement, RSA share prices have gone up by 15%.
Zurich confirmed recent speculation of the takeover and has until August 25 to make an offer under City takeover rules.
RSA is run by the former RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) boss who was hired to revive share prices and the companies profits following the uncovering of a £200 million black hole in the Irish division of RSA. Some stakeholders are not to impressed with the performance of the share prices at RSA.
The share price of approximately £550 per share, would equal approximately £5.6 billion for Zurich to takeover RSA. More Than, RSA's main group in Britain underwrote £2.6 billion in premiums, a reported 15% decrease on the previous fiscal year.
With 19,000 staff in 140 countries, the takeover would essentially make Zurich one of the larger oligopolies in the insurance market and would probably put them ahead of AXA in terms of market share.
There is no guarantee that the takeover will happen, we will update our readers on the blog as developments follow.
James Savery, 28 July 2015