Shareholders may acccept 120p a share

Canopius is rumoured to be in talks to buy fellow Lloyd’s insurer Omega Insurance Holdings.

Canopius chief executive Michael Watson declined to comment, citing his company’s policy not to discuss market speculation.

The rumours suggest Omega shareholders could accept an offer of 120 pence a share from Canopius.

The speculation closely follows Omega’s announcement that its losses from September’s earthquake in New Zealand would be almost triple its initial estimates. The revised loss estimate was $16.8m, compared with the initial estimate of $6.2m.

Omega’s share price dropped to 92p in the day’s trading on Friday, but rose to close at 97.50p. The shares closed at 100p on Thursday.

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