Beazley raises £350m in fresh capital

Beazley has raised £350m in fresh capital to fund organic growth.

The issue price of 575 pence represents a discount of 8.0% to the closing share price of 625 pence on 15 November 2022.

“The use of proceeds of the capital raise is to support organic growth and provide growth capital to fund attractive underwriting opportunities while maintaining a strong balance sheet that can withstand a range of stress scenarios,” Beazley wrote.

Beazley is a major cyber underwriter in the London, and intends to write about $1.3bn of cyber premiums in 2022. Thanks to a highly favourable underwriting environment, cyber risks are now Beazley’s biggest line by premium. 

Beazley’s capital raise could give the company more firepower to move further into cyber.

Cyber brokers in the London say that many existing cyber insurers are dedicating more capital to cyber, putting downward pressure on rates. 

Beazley chief executive Adrian Cox bought shares in the company’s offering, as did several other Beazley directors.

A total of 60,403,895 Placing Shares were placed by J.P. Morgan Cazanove and Numis. In addition, retail investors have subscribed via the PrimaryBid platform for a total of 529,036 shares.