HARDY/OMEGA OFFER TALKS TERMINATED

Lloyd’s specialist insurer Hardy Underwriting announced this morning that it was no longer in discussions regarding the possibility of an offer for the company. Last week Hardy announced that it had rejected two offers from recently listed Lloyd’s managing agent Omega Underwriting Holdings. Today it said that since then it had held further discussions with Omega, but that Omega’s financial advisers had informed the Hardy board that Omega was not prepared to increase its offer. Hardy said that it had therefore ended discussions with Omega and its advisers. Hardy’s share price was off 5% at 214p in early trading.