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Axa mulls take-over bid
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November 17, 1998: 5:58 a.m. ET
French insurer is considering offer for small UK insurer, report says
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LONDON (CNNfn) - French insurer Axa Tuesday said it had no comment on a newspaper report that it's considering making a £2.5 billion ($4.2 billion) takeover bid for British insurer Guardian Royal Exchange.
London's The Independent reported Tuesday that the French insurance group is considering making a bid through its UK subsidiary Sun Life and Provincial Holdings.
GRE is the smallest British life and general insurer with a market capitalization of around £2.4 billion. Chief executive John Robins is said to be determined to keep the group independent, but many analysts consider it to small to survive.
Axa, which has a market capitalization of £25 billion ($42 billion), has said that it wants to expand in the U.K. through acquisitions.
GRE stock jumped 5.55 percent to 290.25p on the news and Axa rose 1.42 percent higher to 641 francs. 
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