Suncorp has told the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) it is not in takeover discussions and has not received a takeover offer, responding to a price query issued after a jump in its share price and trading volumes.
The exchange wrote to Suncorp company secretary Cassandra Hamlin yesterday, citing the movement in SUN securities from a close of $19.05 on September 29 to a high of $20.18 the following day, alongside a significant increase in volume. The query was issued under Listing Rule 18.7, with a response required by 9:00am AEST on 1 October.
Suncorp replied the same day. Asked whether it was aware of any information concerning the company that had not been announced to the market and which could explain the trading, the insurer answered no.
Asked whether there was any other explanation for the movement, Suncorp pointed to media reporting. The company said it was aware of a speculative article published online by The Australian, headlined around preliminary takeover talks between Tokio Marine and Suncorp and noted it appeared shortly before the increase in its share price and trading volumes.
Read next: Tokio Marine takeover talk returns as bankers reportedly ready for a Suncorp bid
The insurer then stated plainly that it is "not in discussions regarding a takeover" and that it has not received a takeover offer.
Suncorp also confirmed it is complying with the Listing Rules, and with Listing Rule 3.1 in particular, the continuous disclosure obligation requiring a listed entity to immediately disclose market-sensitive information. It confirmed its responses were authorised under its published continuous disclosure policy.
The letter was signed by chief financial officer Jeremy Robson.
The statement is framed in the present tense. It addresses whether Suncorp is currently in discussions and whether an offer has been received. It does not comment on the specific account in The Australian's DataRoom column, which reported that Suncorp executives had travelled to Japan and that there had been preliminary engagement, as covered in our report on the DataRoom account of a Suncorp trip to Tokyo.
Robson is the executive that column named as having made the trip.
Read next: Suncorp executives flew to Tokyo for Tokio Marine talks
The sequence of events began at the weekend, when DataRoom reported that deal advisers were preparing for the possibility of a formal offer, with JPMorgan tipped to act for Suncorp and Goldman Sachs understood to be working with Tokio Marine, as set out in our coverage of bankers reportedly readying for a Suncorp bid. Tokio Marine has not commented publicly.
Suncorp remains a Trans-Tasman general insurer following the 2024 sale of its banking arm, reporting FY26 net profit after tax of $1.027 billion alongside an executive reshuffle in August. Its commercial and personal injury business writes substantially through intermediaries under the Vero brand.
ASX Compliance noted in its letter that it reserves the right to release the correspondence to the market under Listing Rule 18.7A and that the usual course is for such correspondence to be published
