By Robb M. Stewart 



  National General Holdings Corp. shares surged premarket Wednesday after the specialty personal lines insurance company landed a cash takeover bid from Allstate Corp for about $4 billion. 


  Before the market opened, National General shares were about 71% higher, at $34.97. Allstate shares were down about 2.3% premarket, at $90.50. 


  On Tuesday, insurance giant Allstate said it had agreed to acquire National General, expanding its reach in the personal property liability business. 


  Shareholders of National General would receive a total of $34.50 a share, an offer that comprises $32.00 a share from Allstate and expected closing dividends of $2.50 a share. The total offer represented a 69% premium to the stock's last-traded price. 


  Allstate would fund the deal with $2.2 billion in cash resources and by issuing $1.5 billion in new senior debt. 


  National General's board has approved the transaction and the deal is expected to close in early 2021 subject to regulatory approvals, the companies said. 


  Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com