UPDATE 1-Insurer Chubb 'disappointed' after rival Hartford snubs buyout bid
(Adds background on bid)
March 29 (Reuters) - Property and casualty insurer Chubb Ltd said on Monday it was "disappointed" that smaller rival Hartford had declined to engage in talks on its $23.24 billion takeover offer.
Chubb made an offer of $65 per share on March 18, a premium of about 13% to Hartford's closing stock price a day earlier.
Hartford's rejection, which came five days later, was widely expected, as analysts had said the company was worth $80 per share or more.
A deal between Hartford and Chubb would be the biggest in the sector since Aon Plc's $30 billion bid to buy Willis Towers Watson last year, and the largest in the U.S. P&C insurance space since Chubb was created in its current form in January 2016. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Sriraj Kalluvila)
