Global insurer Chubb is allegedly in talks with US property & casualty insurer Hartford Financial Services Group (The Hartford) over a potential US$22 billion (approx. CA$17.56 billion) takeover, according to Bloomberg.
If the suggested acquisition goes ahead, it could be one of the industry’s biggest deals in years – bringing back memories of Chubb’s colossal combination with Ace Ltd. in 2016 in a nearly US$30 billion deal.
Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that deliberations between New York-based Chubb and its Connecticut-based P&C rival The Hartford are at an early stage and may not materialize into a deal.
Chubb, led by Evan Greenberg, is the world’s largest publicly traded P&C insurer, with operations in 54 countries and more than 30,000 employees. Greenberg, the son of former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, is no stranger to mammoth deals, having driven Chubb’s merger with Ace five-years-ago.
With roots tracing back more than 200 years, The Hartford, led by CEO Chris Swift, offers a range of P&C insurance, including automobile, homeowners’ coverage, small business insurance, and workers’ compensation insurance.
In the past year, shares of the firm have more than doubled, giving it a market capitalization of about US$23 billion as of Thursday, according to Bloomberg.
UPDATE
In a statement, The Hartford confirmed it had received an “unsolicited” non-binding takeover proposal from Chubb.
“The Hartford’s board of directors is carefully considering the proposal with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors,” it said. “The board of directors is committed to acting in the best interests of shareholders over the long term.”
