A consortium composed of the Canadian Intact Financial Corporation and the Danish insurer Tryg is interested in acquiring Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA for £ 7.1 billion ($9.3 billion).

RSA Insurance Group plc is a British multinational general insurance company headquartered in London, England. RSA has major operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia & Canada. It provides insurance products and services in more than 140 countries through a network of local partners

If the transaction is approved, Intact will retain RSA’s Canadian and UK operations while Tryg will take over RSA’s operations in Sweden and Norway. The British insurer’s business in Denmark will be managed by both companies

It later fleshed out the details to reveal the pair are ready to pay £7.1bn, with Intact paying £3bn and Tryg paying the balance.

Following a takeover, RSA would be broken up, with Toronto-based Intact keeping RSA’s Canada and UK and International operations – which include the More Than brand – while Tryg would own RSA’s Sweden and Norway operations. Intact and Tryg would co-own RSA’s business in Denmark.

Investors have reacted ecstatically. Shares of RSA, which had fallen by 19% since the beginning of the year, shot up by 46% after news of the approach leaked into the market.

Shares of RSA are valued at 685p each under the proposal while investors would also receive the already-announced half year dividend of 8p a share. The last time shares of RSA were changing hands at that sort of level was back in December 2008.