Zurich Insurance has said that any bid it might make for its potential £5.5 billion takeover target RSA Insurance is likely to be made “solely in cash” and would not involve issuing new shares.
The announcement means that under City takeover rules Zurich does not have to disclose whether or not it has already built up a stake in RSA unless it goes above the usual disclosure level of 3%.
One analyst said the announcement meant “there’s a very high likelihood of an offer within the next few weeks”.
RSA is understood to have brought in Goldman Sachs and boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw alongside its normal advisers to help it deal with the takeover threat.
Goldman and Robey Warshaw have strong records in merger and acquisition.
The latter firm, set up by Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw, was the driving force behind Shell’s £47 billion takeover bid for BG.
RSA shares dropped 11.5p to 507p today after their 18% increase yesterday.
