targeted Brockbank Group plc, the Financial Times reported this weekend.

Shares in Brockbank rose as much as 13.9 percent following the newspaper article, according to Bloomberg.

Brockbank said it was in talks with a "number of parties'' which were seeking to provide corporate capital or take a stake in the insurance management agency.

Brockbank said it is seeking investors to support its syndicates' underwriting activities and that the provision of such capital "may be combined with such an investor making an investment in the company itself.'' The company said no agreement has been reached.

Mid Ocean executives would not respond to enquiries yesterday, but Brockbank responded to the newspaper report in a prepared statement.

They said, "The Brockbank Group notes the recent speculation in the press regarding takeover talks and movement in its share price.

"It has long been the group's publicly stated intention to seek investors in its business to support the underwriting activities of the group's managed syndicates.

"The directors continue to investigate appropriate sources of such funding, the provision of which may be combined with such an investor making an investment in the Company itself.

"At this time, no agreement has been reached with any such investor but the directors confirm that they have been, and are, talking to a number of parties interested in providing corporate capital to the group.'' Shares in Brockbank closed the week up 26 pence at 228p, after rising as much as 18p to 230p, their highest level since the stock began trading on the Alternative Investment Market in mid-August.

The local reinsurance company, Mid Ocean, was reported to be "exploring takeovers or other investments at Lloyd's of London,'' the world's oldest insurance market, including a "possible link up'' with Brockbank said the Financial Times.

Brockbank manages syndicates which underwrite insurance on the Lloyd's of London insurance market. One of its syndicates began providing capital in 1994 for motor insurance written by Admiral, which sells policies by telephone direct to the customer.

Lloyd's of London has been seeking corporate investors to boost its underwriting capacity as individual investors, called "Names,'' became wary of investing following five years of substantial losses which ruined some individuals.

Lloyd's losses for the five-year period through 1992 reached $12.6 billion.

The market, which reports its results three years in arrears, has said it expects to make a profit of more than 1 billion pounds in its 1993 year of accounts.

As capacity declines, the market's ability to underwrite insurance risk is diminished so companies seeking insurance may turn to other markets to fulfill their insurance needs.