Chubb £1bn price tag may limit buyers

CHUBB Plc, the British security company that is in talks to be acquired, may cost more than £1 billion (€1.4bn), limiting potential suitors to private-equity firms and companies as large as Rentokil Initial Plc, analysts say.

Shares of Chubb, which last year posted its first profit since splitting from Williams Plc in 2,000, climbed a record 19% on Wednesday after it said talks were under way. The maker of closed-circuit TVs and burglar alarms has a market value of £679m, plus debt and a pension deficit totalling £750m.

Rentokil, with a market value of £3.5bn, did not comment on the Chubb statement. Sweden’s Securitas AB, the world’s biggest security provider, and Denmark’s Group 4 Falck A/S, the second largest, have both said they’re not behind the approach.