Italian joint venture UNI Banca will acquire Aviva’s 80% stake in life insurer Aviva Vita for €400m (£356m, $474m) in cash.
As part of the M&A deal, Aviva Italia Holding’s €40m loan to the Italian firm will be repaid in full at completion.
The move follows the insurer’s sale of its Singapore business, as it looks to exit non-core operations in both Asia and mainland Europe.
The sum represents 8.4 times the IFRS profits made by Aviva Vita in 2019 after tax, and it would boost Aviva’s capital surplus by £200m ($265m, €224m) and increase its net asset value by £100m.
There will be no impact to Aviva Vita’s clients, as they will continued to deal with the company “as usual”, the firm said.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete in the first half of 2021.
Italian future
Aviva has three other businesses in Italy, which are currently under evaluation.
They are:
- Aviva spa, a 51% owned life insurance joint venture with Unicredit;
- Aviva Life spa, a 100% owned life insurance firm; and;
- Aviva Italia spa, a 100% owned general insurance company.
Amanda Blanc, chief executive of Aviva, said: “Our strategy is about focus and delivery.
“The sale of Aviva Vita is another important step forward as we reshape our portfolio, and follows the recent announcement of the majority sale of our Singaporean business.
“We will continue to be decisive as we seek to transform Aviva for the benefit of our shareholders.”
