Aviva to sell entire shareholding in Italian joint-venture
Aviva today announced that it has agreed to sell its entire 80% shareholding in the Italian life insurance joint venture, Aviva Vita to its partner UBI Banca.
Aviva said the transaction represents "another important strategic milestone" as international insurer seeks to refocus its portfolio.
Upon completion, Aviva will receive €400m in cash.
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."
In 2019, Aviva Vita's IFRS profit after tax was £523 million and it did not pay a dividend. The gross assets of Aviva Vita were £16.32bn as at 30 June 2020.
The proceeds will be used to further strengthen Aviva's central liquidity and will be considered as part of Aviva's broader capital management and debt reduction objectives.
Customers of Aviva Vita will continue to deal with the company as usual and there is no impact to customer policies as a result of this announcement, the firm said.
Aviva has three other operating insurance entities in Italy:
- Aviva SpA, a 51% owned life insurance JV with UniCredit (2019 Solvency II Own Funds of €800m)
- Aviva Life SpA, a 100% owned life insurance entity (2019 Solvency II Own Funds of €200m)
- Aviva Italia SpA, a 100% owned general insurance entity (2019 Solvency II Own Funds of €200m)
Amanda Blanc, CEO 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."The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to complete in the first half of 2021.
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