Admission to Listing

Beazley Group PLC 12 November 2002 12 November 2002 NEWS RELEASE Not for release, publication or distribution in or into or from the United States, Canada, Japan or Australia. Flotation of Beazley Group plc Placing of £150 million Beazley Group plc announces the Admission of the whole of its share capital to the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities at 8.00 am today. The Placing values Beazley at £167.5 million. Highlights • The Company is the holding company of the Beazley Group, which includes Beazley Furlonge, a Lloyd's managing agent. • Beazley Furlonge has managed Syndicate 623 since 1986 and for the 2002 year of account was the largest private independent managing agent at Lloyd's, with capacity of £403 million. • Syndicate 623 has returned a profit to members in every closed year of account since 1986 and has a syndicate rating from A.M. Best of A (Excellent). • The Company has raised capital in order to take advantage of the current favourable underwriting conditions in the global insurance and reinsurance markets and to reposition the Beazley Group as an independent, integrated Lloyd's vehicle. • The Beazley Group benefits from the following key strengths: - an established portfolio of specialist business that is diverse in terms of geography, broker and risk profile; - a superior track record demonstrated by the Syndicate having outperformed significantly the Lloyd's market as a whole; - favourable underwriting conditions across all of the Syndicate's divisions; - opportunities for material growth in all of the Syndicate's divisions; - limited exposure to prior year losses; and - an experienced management team. • The net proceeds of the Placing will be used predominantly to enable the Beazley Group to support its underwriting activities with permanent equity capital and significantly increase its participation in the business of Syndicate 623. Pursuant to the Placing, 205,479,452 New Ordinary Shares, representing 89.5 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital, are being issued by the Company at the Placing Price of 73p per Ordinary Share. Of this, 198,561,644 New Ordinary Shares have been underwritten by Numis Securities and placed with institutional and other investors. Contemporaneously with Admission, the Company has agreed with Aon to redeem certain convertible loan notes held by Aon for £5.05 million in cash, which Aon has agreed it will use to subscribe for the remaining New Ordinary Shares in the Placing. In the Prospectus of the Company the holding of INVESCO Asset Management Limited, as agent for clients, was disclosed as 38,938,356 shares, or 16.97 per cent of the ordinary share capital. It was explained that this holding would mean that INVESCO Asset Management Limited would be considered a controller of Beazley Furlonge and of the Beazley Group's corporate members for the purposes of the FSMA and Lloyd's regulations. It is a requirement that such a holding, to the extent that it is ten per cent or more, be given prior approval by both the FSA and Lloyd's, for which applications have been made. The approvals have not yet been received but are expected shortly. As envisaged by the Prospectus, Numis has subscribed under the Placing Agreement for the excess above ten per cent, being 16,219,891 ordinary shares or 7.07 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the Company. INVESCO Asset Management Limited expects that, in the absence of exceptional unforeseen circumstances and on receipt of the approvals of the controller applications referred to above, it will purchase these shares as agent for clients. Numis Securities is acting as sponsor, stockbroker, lead manager and joint financial adviser to the Company and Lexicon Partners is acting as joint financial adviser to the Company. Banc of America Securities is acting as co-manager. Andrew Beazley, Chief Executive and co-founder of Beazley, said: 'This is an exciting and important time for Beazley. A listing will enable us to support the growth within our business and enhance our ability to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the current favourable underwriting market conditions.' Copies of the Prospectus are available from the offices of the Beazley Group (One Aldgate, London EC3N 1AA) and Numis Securities (Cheapside House, 138 Cheapside, London EC2V 6LH). For further information, please contact: Beazley Group plc Tel: 020 7667 0623 Andrew Beazley Nicholas Furlonge Arthur Manners Numis Securities Tel: 020 7776 1500 Oliver Hemsley Lexicon Partners Tel: 020 7743 6330 Sir Laurie Magnus Angus Winther Finsbury Tel: 020 7251 3801 Rupert Younger Melanie Gerlis Placing Statistics Placing Price 73p Number of Ordinary Shares in issue prior to the Placing 24,000,000 Number of New Ordinary Shares being issued 205,479,452 Number of Ordinary Shares in issue following the Placing 229,479,452 Estimated net proceeds of the Placing receivable by the Company £142.2m Percentage of the enlarged ordinary issued share capital available in the Placing 89.5% Market capitalisation at the Placing Price £167.5m Numis Securities, Lexicon Partners and Banc of America Securities are acting for the Company in connection with the Placing and the proposed Admission and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to customers of Numis Securities, Lexicon Partners or Banc of America Securities respectively or for providing advice in relation to the Placing, the contents of this announcement or any transaction or arrangement referred to herein. This announcement does not constitute an offer to buy or to subscribe for, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, New Ordinary Shares in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan or in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. The New Ordinary Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 as amended (the 'Securities Act') or qualified for sale under the laws of any state of the United States or under the applicable laws of any of Canada, Australia or Japan and, subject to certain exceptions, may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, US persons (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) or to any national, resident or citizen of Canada, Australia or Japan. This announcement does not constitute an offer of, or solicitation of, an offer to purchase or subscribe for any New Ordinary Shares. No part of this announcement shall form the basis or be relied upon in connection with any contract or commitment whatsoever. Any decision to buy shares in the Placing should be made solely on the basis of information contained in the Prospectus. The contents of this announcement, which has been prepared by and is the sole responsibility of Beazley Group plc has been approved by Numis Securities solely for the purposes of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Numis Securities can be contacted as stated above. Definitions 'Admission' in relation to particular shares, the admission of those shares to the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities becoming effective 'Aon' Aon Corporation, Inc. and its subsidiaries, or any of them, as the case may be 'Banc of America Securities' Banc of America Securities Limited, a company regulated by the FSA 'Beazley Furlonge' Beazley Furlonge Limited 'the Beazley Group' or 'Beazley' or 'the the Company, and its subsidiaries, or any of them as the case may be Group' 'the Company' Beazley Group plc 'the Directors' the directors of the Company, namely Joseph Denny Sargent, Andrew Frederick Beazley, Arthur Roger Manners, Nicholas Hill Furlonge, Jonathan George Gray, Neil Patrick Maidment, Jonathan George Benton Rowell, Jonathan Geoffrey William Agnew, Thomas Francis Sullivan and John Dudley Fishburn, who together accept responsibility for the information contained in this press release 'Lexicon Partners' Lexicon Partners Limited, a company regulated by the FSA 'London Stock Exchange' London Stock Exchange plc 'New Ordinary Shares' the Placing Shares and the 6,917,808 new Ordinary Shares to be subscribed for by Aon 'Numis Securities' Numis Securities Limited, a company regulated by the FSA 'Official List' the Official List of the UKLA 'Ordinary Shares' the ordinary shares of 5 pence each in the capital of the Company from time to time 'Placing Price' 73p per Ordinary Share 'the Placing' the placing by Numis Securities Limited of the Placing Shares at the Placing Price and the subscription by Aon of 6,917,808 new Ordinary Shares at the Placing Price 'the Placing Shares' 198,561,644 new Ordinary Shares to be allotted and issued by the Company and placed by Numis Securities Limited pursuant to the Placing 'Prospectus' the document published on 7 November 2002 in relation to the Placing and the Admission of the Ordinary Shares to the Official List 'UK Listing Authority' or 'UKLA' the FSA, acting in its capacity as the competent authority for the purposes of Part VI of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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