苏黎世保险集团(Zurich Insurance Group)周一宣布，将放弃收购RSA保险集团(RSA Insurance Group)，后者是一个规模较小的英国竞争对手。苏黎世的此次声明发生在其业绩出现下滑之后，业绩下滑尤以普通保险业务最为显著。
苏黎世还透露，该公司正在对那些普通保险业务的经营状况进行深入的审核。今年8月，一系列爆炸冲击了中国港口城市天津，苏黎世预计与此相关的保险索赔会给公司带来2.75亿美元的损失。
苏黎世是欧洲最大的保险公司之一，它于今年7月声称，考虑对RSA保险集团主动发起收购。上个月，苏黎世表示，愿意出价56亿英镑——约合87亿美元，555亿元人民币——收购RSA。
苏黎世于周一称已经终止与RSA集团的磋商，又称今年上半年其普通保险业务盈利不及预期的状况，预计会延续至第三季度。
根据与天津爆炸相关的索赔和最近的准备金审核结果，苏黎世集团预计，其普通保险业务将在第三季度出现约两亿美元的营业亏损。今年上半年，其普通保险业务的营业利润减少了31%，降至12亿美元。
苏黎世在新闻稿中称：“鉴于近期公司普通保险业务的业绩恶化，苏黎世于今天早晨宣布，已终止与RSA集团就可能的收购出价而进行的磋商。”
这一消息使RSA在伦敦交易所的股价跌至399便士，降幅21.7%。
RSA集团总部位于伦敦，为个人和企业客户提供保险，其险种包括房屋保险、车辆保险、责任保险和海上保险。RSA集团市值约为50亿英镑。
该公司在全球雇佣有1.9万名员工，2014年的净保费收入为74.7亿英镑。
苏黎世于1872年成立，提供横跨多条产品线的普通险和人寿险。它在超过170个国家拥有5.5万名雇员，其2014年的净保费收入达487亿美元。
今年8月，苏黎世称，愿意以每股550便士的价格收购RSA，但条件是完成对该保险公司的尽职调查，且RSA董事会建议股东接受出价。
RSA集团曾表示，如果其他条款能够得到满足，董事会愿意推荐这一出价。
在周一的新闻稿中，RSA证实其与苏黎世之间的讨论已经终止，但称苏黎世的尽职调查“没有发现任何妨碍交易继续进行的因素”。
“自那以后，RSA在工作计划的实施上，保持着卓越的进展，这已为我们的半年业绩所证明，”RSA称。
RSA于2014年2月聘请斯蒂芬·赫斯特(Stephen Hester)担任首席执行官，他曾于苏格兰皇家银行(RBS)担任相同职位。在2008年的政府救市行动之后，他掌管了RBS的大权。2013年12月，在RSA的爱尔兰业务出现资本缺口之后，RSA首席执行官西蒙·李(Simon Lee)辞去职位。
赫斯特加入RSA以来，为了筹集资本、巩固资产负债表，出手了一些业务。
1996年，英国最大的两家保险公司皇家保险(Royal Insurance)与太阳联合(Sun Alliance)合并，形成了RSA。（中国进出口网）
Zurich Insurance Group said on Monday that it was abandoning its pursuit of RSA Insurance Group, a smaller British rival, after a deterioration in its business performance, particularly in Zurich’s general insurance unit.
Zurich also said that it was conducting an in-depth review of those general insurance operations and that it expected losses of about $275 million on insurance claims related to a series of explosions that rocked the port city of Tianjin, China, in August.
The company, one of the largest insurers in Europe, had said in July that it was considering making an unsolicited bid for RSA. Last month, it indicated that it was willing to offer 5.6 billion pounds, or about $8.7 billion, for RSA.
On Monday, Zurich said that its discussions with RSA had been terminated and that weaker-than-expected profit in its general insurance business in the first half of this year was expected to continue in the third quarter.
Given the claims related to the Tianjin explosions and the outcome of a recent review of its reserves, Zurich said that it expected its general insurance business to post an operating loss of about $200 million in the third quarter. The operating profit in the general insurance business declined 31 percent to $1.2 billion in the first half of the year.
“In light of the above recent deterioration in the trading performance in the group’s general insurance business, Zurich announced this morning that it has terminated its discussions in connection with a possible offer for RSA,” Zurich said in a news release.
The news sent shares of RSA down 21.7 percent to 399 pence in early trading in London.
RSA, which is based in London, offers insurance to consumers and businesses, including home, automobile, liability and marine insurance. The company is worth about 5 billion, based on its market capitalization.
The insurer employs about 19,000 people worldwide and wrote 7.47 billion in net premiums in 2014.
Zurich, founded in 1872, offers general and life insurance across several product lines. It has about 55,000 employees in more than 170 countries and had net written premiums of $48.7 billion in 2014.
In August, Zurich said it was willing to offer to pay 550 pence a share for RSA, a bid that was conditioned on completing a due diligence review of the insurer and receiving a recommendation from RSA’s board of directors that shareholders accept the offer.
RSA had indicated its board was willing to recommend the offer if other terms were met.
In a news release on Monday, RSA confirmed that its discussions with Zurich had ended, but that Zurich’s due diligence review “had not found anything that would have prevented them from proceeding with the transaction.”
“Since that time, RSA has continued to make good progress in the delivery of its action plans, as evidenced by our half-year results,” RSA said.
RSA brought in Stephen Hester, a former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, as chief executive in February 2014. He had taken the helm of R.B.S. after a government bailout in 2008. In December 2013, Simon Lee, RSA’s top executive, quit after a capital shortfall in its Irish operations.
Since joining RSA, Mr. Hester has sold businesses and raised capital in order to bolster its balance sheet.
RSA was created in 1996 by the merger of two of the largest British insurers, Royal Insurance and Sun Alliance.
