L&G shares rise on Zurich bid rumours
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Shares in Legal & General have risen almost 3 per cent today to 95p after rumours that Zurich Financial may be preparing a bid for the insurer.
A report by Reuters states: “Shares in insurer Legal & General rose 3 per cent on Wednesday, hitting a near two-year high and outperforming UK peers, with traders citing market talk of bid interest from Zurich Financial.”
Aviva’s share price closed 5 per cent up at 397p yesterday after reports suggesting Axa is interested in a bid for its general insurance business. At 12.20pm today it had fallen back to 392p per share.
Aviva rejected a £5bn bid for its general insurance arm from RSA last week.
The insurer’s major shareholders are understood to be pushing it to reconsider the deal, which would give RSA an estimated 22 per cent stake of the general insurance market in the UK.
L&G, Aviva and Axa declined to comment.
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