Best’s News & Research Service - March 03, 2026 08:22 AM (EST)
AM Best Comments on Credit Ratings of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd and Its Main Rated Subsidiaries
- March 03, 2026 08:22 AM (EST)
//BestWire// - AM Best has commented that the Financial Strength Ratings of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “aa” (Superior) of the main rated insurance subsidiaries of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd (Zurich) (Switzerland), as well as the Long-Term ICR of “a+” (Excellent) of Zurich (a non-operating holding company), remain unchanged following the announcement on March 2, 2026, that Zurich has made a binding offer for the acquisition of Beazley plc (Beazley).
Under the terms of the offer, Zurich would acquire the entire share capital of Beazley for a total consideration of circa USD 11 billion and will be funded by Zurich via a combination of existing cash, new debt, and an equity placing. Zurich estimates that the transaction will have a manageable Swiss Solvency Test (SST) impact of approximately -30 percentage points. At year-end 2025, the group reported a healthy SST of 259%. The transaction is subject to approval from Beazley’s shareholders, and subsequently, the applicable regulatory and competition authorities.
If the offer is accepted, the transaction would combine two highly complementary businesses and would establish a leading, global specialty platform, leveraging Beazley’s existing Lloyd’s of London presence.
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings (BCR), Best’s Performance Assessments (PA), Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments (PCA) and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.
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