Shares in Bermuda-based Heritage Underwriting rose 13 percent on the London Stock Exchange yesterday after it confirmed a takeover approach from Bermuda insurer Ironshore Inc.

In announcing its 2007 results, Heritage said it was in a takeover period. Heritage, which operates on the Loyd's of London market, announced a £23.3 million ($47.0 million) pretax profit for 2007, up 126 percent on the previous year.

Ironshore has made no secret of its desire to establish a foothold in the London market, since it was set on the Island with $1 billion of capital sometime early last year.

In response to questions yesterday on the interest in Heritage, Ironshore chief executive officer Robert Deutsch said: "We continue to be interested in establishing a platform in London and have no comment with respect to Heritage."

In an interview with The Royal Gazette in late January, Mr. Deutsch said of his company's interest last year in Heritage: "It's true that we were interested in Heritage and we made an offer but it was not high enough for them, so we moved away from that.

"London is strong for the kind of specialty business we like. It has people who are talented in that field and it would make good use of our capital. The London market is licensed throughout the world and it offers more entries to more markets.

"We want to establish ourselves there, either by building a UK operation from scratch or by buying an existing operation. But if we are going to buy, then we will be very disciplined about the price we pay."

Heritage said that its results were boosted by "two benign hurricane seasons and good underwriting discipline".

The company said that while it was in discussions with potential suitors, there was no certainty that an offer would be made. "The company has a bright future, whether as part of a large organisation or as an independent listed vehicle," it said.