Aviva has offloaded its stake in Italian insurer Eurovita to private equity group JC Flowers for €33 million (£27.6 million).
The FTSE 100 company, which is part-way through a dramatic overhaul of its operations, said the deal would boost its surplus capital by £100 million. Its joint venture partner, Banco Popolare, has also agreed to sell its holding in Eurovita to JC Flowers.
Aviva said it will still continue to sell life and general insurance products in the country through partnership deals with banks and financial advisers. The decision to offload 39% of Eurovita comes after the company revealed that the value of new business it made in Italy in the first nine months of the year fell by £7 million.
“The agreement represents further progress in Aviva’s strategy to focus our Italian business on more profitable, capital-efficient products,” Aviva said. “The sale is subject to approval by Ivass, the Italian insurance regulator.”
Aviva shares fell by 3.26p to 431.5p.
The company, which appointed Mark Wilson as chief executive last November, is looking to sell underperforming divisions as it slims its structure. The group has cut staff, sold businesses and overhauled others since parting with chief executive Andrew Moss in May after a shareholder revolt at the AGM.
