When The Hartford rejected Chubb Ltd.’s first buyout bid in late March, industry analysts accurately predicted the Swiss insurance giant would soon return to the table with more competitive offers. Gov. Ned Lamont seemed to agree, telling reporters they were seeing the beginning of what would likely be a much longer “dance” between the two firms.
That dance, however, came to end sooner than most expected this week when Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg declared the company would make no further offers.
In an earnings call with analysts Wednesday, Greenberg provided some insight into the mergers-and-acquisitions philosophy that led Chubb to The Hartford in the first place.
Provided by Dow Jones By Micah Maidenberg Chubb Ltd. s profit recovered in the first quarter and was ahead of forecasts from analysts. The insurer reported quarterly net income of $2.3 billion, or $5.07 a share, up from $252 million, or 55 cents a share, for the year-earlier period, when the Covid-19 pandemic was first spreading in many markets. Core operating earnings, which strips out certain gains after taxes, totaled $2.52 a share in the quarter and therefore was ahead of the $2.47 a share that analysts predicted for that metric, according to FactSet. Chubb said it wrote $8.66 billion in premiums on a net basis in the period, up almost 9% year over year.
Chubb ends bid to acquire CT-based insurance giant The Hartford
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State Rep. Kerry Wood, D-Rocky Hill, is co-chairwoman of the state legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee.Contributed photoShow MoreShow Less
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A view from Bushnell Park of The Hartford’s headquarters building at One Hartford Plaza, at center, in Hartford, Conn.File photoShow MoreShow Less
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State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown is co-chairman of the state legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee.Contributed photo / Senate Democrats /Show MoreShow Less
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HARTFORD Insurance multinational Chubb announced Wednesday that it would end its efforts to acquire The Hartford, after submitting three failed offers in the past two months for one of the cornerstone companies of Connecticut’s insurance industry.
Provided by Dow Jones By Robb M. Stewart Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. weakened Wednesday after spurned suitor Chubb Ltd. s chief executive said the insurer s recent unsolicited offers to buy Hartford are now history. In afternoon trading, Hartford s stock was 4.1% lower at $66.68, narrowing the gain in 2021 to $36. Chubb was down 2% at $163.32, for a gain this year of 6.1%. The chapter with the Hartford is closed, Chubb s Evan Greenberg said during the company s first-quarter earnings call. We have moved along. On March 11, Chubb offered to buy Hartford in a roughly $23 billion transaction, but before the end of the month Hartford rejected the proposal. Last week, Hartford filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission copies two further proposals from Chubb that took the deal price up to $70 a share in a cash-and-stock deal from $65 a share in cash and stock as initially proposed.