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Fitch upgrades Beazley ratings after Zurich completes £8.1B takeover
Zurich finished its 100% acquisition of Beazley on October 1, and Fitch removed the ratings from Rating Watch Positive with a stable outlook.
Fitch Ratings upgraded Beazley following Zurich Insurance Group’s completion of its 100% acquisition of the specialist insurer.
After the deal closed on October 1, Zurich completed its £8.1 billion takeover of London-headquartered Beazley and later appointed Kristof Terryn as CEO of Beazley and Zurich Global Specialty.
Fitch raised Beazley Insurance DAC’s Insurer Financial Strength rating to ‘AA’ from ‘A+’, and upgraded the long-term issuer default ratings of Beazley’s Dublin subsidiary and Beazley plc to ‘AA-’ from ‘A’ after removing the ratings from Rating Watch Positive.
Fitch said the two-notch uplift reflects Zurich’s stronger credit quality, and it set stable outlooks based on Fitch’s view that Beazley will remain strategically ‘Very Important’ to the group.