Hartford Says Considering Buy-out Proposal From Chubb

(RTTNews) - Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) confirmed Thursday that it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Chubb Limited (CB) to acquire The Hartford.

Hartford said its board is carefully considering the proposal with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors. The board is committed to acting in the best interests of shareholders over the long term.

HIG closed Thursday regular trading at $68.15 up $10.74 or 18.71 percent. But in the after-hours trading the stock dropped $1.65 or 2.42 percent.

Earlier today, Chubb said that on March 11, it presented Hartford with a proposal for a merger of two companies. The proposal would value The Hartford at $65.00 per share and represents a premium of 26% based on its unaffected 20-day volume weighted average share price of $51.70 as of March 10, 2021. The consideration represents a mix of stock with the majority in cash.

Chubb said it has not yet received a response to its proposal but are looking forward to constructive, private discussions in order to expeditiously consummate a fair transaction that benefits all of their respective stakeholders.

Chubb noted that no agreement has been reached, and there can be no assurance any transaction will result from these discussions, and even if a transaction is agreed upon, there can be no assurances as to its terms, structure or timing.