(Bloomberg) -- RSA Insurance Group Plc Chief Executive OfficerStephen Hester said the company will attract bids from othersuitors after Zurich Insurance Group AG abandoned its 5.6billion-pound ($8.7 billion) offer for the British insurer.

“I am sure that this company will get other approaches in thefuture because it’s a consolidating industry and it’s an attractivecompany, but we are not looking for approaches and we arenot talking to anyone else as we speak,” Hester said in a telephoneinterview Monday from London.

Hester, hired in 2014 to help the insurer recover from threeconsecutive profit warnings and an accounting scandal in Ireland,said RSA hadn’t received any other approaches since Zurich firstregistered its interest for the company in July.

The shares tumbled 21 percent on Monday, erasing more than 1billion pounds in market value after Switzerland’s largest insurerwas forced to abandon the offer. Zurich said that it would report a$200 million loss in general insurance unit, its biggestbusiness.

“I was surprised,” Hester said. “As far as we were concerned,until last night everything was on course. We knew that the duediligence had gone well and that nothing had come out that wasalarming. It was as much as a surprise to us as it was to themarket.”

The CEO said that in the absence of another offer it was back toplan A for the insurer to progress with the turnaround that hadbeen disrupted since Zurich talks first emerged. His strategy hasincluded a string of asset disposals.

Analysts including Shore Capital’s Eamonn Flanagan andBerenberg’s Sami Taipalus said another offer for the insurercouldn’t be ruled out with the shares more attractive since Zurichwalked away.

The stock had surged by the most in almost two decades amidspeculation that larger rivals, including Allianz SE, Europe’sbiggest insurer, and France’s Axa SA may also bid for the Britishinsurer.

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