Dividend Access Plan

RNS Number : 2761D

Beazley PLC

14 May 2012

 



Beazley plc

Dublin, 14 May 2012

Dividend Access Plan ("DAP")

Beazley plc ("Beazley") announces that the board has approved changes to the DAP such that the following shareholders will no longer be entitled to participate in the DAP with immediate effect:

1.       Shareholders on Beazley's share register at 6p.m. on 30 April 2012 ("Current Shareholders") whose holding on any relevant dividend record date exceeds 5,000,000 ordinary shares, or have been aggregated by Beazley into a holding in excess of 5,000,000 ordinary shares;

2.       Current Shareholders who are not, as of 6p.m. on 30 April 2012, participants in the DAP whose holding on any relevant record date exceeds 300,000 ordinary shares; and

3.       Shareholders entered on Beazley's share register after 6p.m. on 30 April 2012 ("Future Shareholders"), whose holding on any relevant dividend record date exceeds 300,000 ordinary shares.

All shareholders who hold 300,000 or fewer ordinary shares in Beazley will continue to be deemed to have elected to participate in the DAP unless any such shareholder has elected to withdraw in accordance with the rules of the DAP. 

Beazley has retained discretion to allow shareholders who will no longer be entitled to participate in the DAP to apply for discretionary participation. That discretion will only be exercised following a request from the shareholder concerned and is expected to be granted:

●        to shareholders who are interested in more than 300,000 ordinary shares and whose holding is not (following any aggregation by Beazley) more than 5,000,000 ordinary shares, as a matter of course; and

●        to all other excluded shareholders, only in limited circumstances (for example, where a shareholder is not able to take advantage of an exemption from Irish dividend withholding tax by any other means).

Forms to request discretionary participation can be found on Beazley's website (http://investor.relations.beazley.com/investor-relations/dividend-access-plan).

For the purposes of determining a shareholder's aggregate interest, Beazley shall take into account all such relevant information available to Beazley, including any indirect or beneficial shareholdings of that shareholder in Beazley including any ordinary shares held under common control of a fund manager.

Current Shareholders with more than 300,000 but not more than 5,000,000 ordinary shares on the register at 6p.m. on 30 April 2012 who have previously elected to participate in the DAP and whose ordinary shares have not been aggregated by Beazley into a holding in excess of 5,000,000 ordinary shares will continue to participate in the DAP provided such threshold of 5,000,000 ordinary shares is not exceeded on any relevant future dividend record date, unless such shareholder is permitted to be a participant in the DAP pursuant to an application for discretionary participation.

The first affected dividend payment will be any interim dividend in respect of 2012. The quantum of any first interim dividend of 2012 will be announced on 20 July 2012 with the interim results.

Affected Current Shareholders will receive individual notice of the changes and certain information in relation to applying for an Irish dividend withholding tax exemption notification.

General guidance is now available on Beazley's website (http://investor.relations.beazley.com/investor-relations/dividend-access-plan).

For further information, please contact:

Beazley plc

Sian Coope

[phone]

Note to editors:

Beazley plc (BEZ.L), is the parent company of specialist insurance businesses with operations in Europe, the US, Asia and Australia.  Beazley manages five Lloyd's syndicates and, in 2011, underwrote gross premiums worldwide of $1,712.5 million.  All Lloyd's syndicates are rated A by A.M. Best. 

Beazley's underwriters in the United States focus on writing a range of specialist insurance products.  In the admitted market, coverage is provided by Beazley Insurance Company, Inc., an A.M. Best A rated carrier licensed in all 50 states.  In the surplus lines market, coverage is provided by the Beazley syndicates at Lloyd's.

Beazley is a market leader in many of its chosen lines, which include professional indemnity, property, marine, reinsurance, accident and life, and political risks and contingency business.

For more information please go to: www.beazley.com

 

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