In February and March 2021, UK insurer Aviva announced plans to sell operations in France to Aéma Group and Italy to Allianz and CNP Assurances.
Those deals closed this week, netting the company €3.2bn (£2.8bn, $3.7bn) and €330m, respectively.
Of the French deal, group chief executive Amanda Blanc said: “This is a very significant step forward for Aviva. It greatly simplifies the company as we focus on our core businesses in the UK, Ireland and Canada.
“I am confident that Aéma, with its strong insurance heritage and reputation, will be an excellent owner of Aviva France. I wish the business and all its people every success for the future.”
No statement was made about the Italian sale.
For sale
It is the culmination of a very busy year for Aviva, which has seen it undertake a series of deals as it seeks to “focus on its core businesses”, as Blanc put it.
In September 2020, just two months after Blanc joined the business, it sold a majority shareholding in Aviva Singapore to a local consortium.
This was followed by Italian joint venture UNI Banca acquiring Aviva’s 80% stake in life insurer Aviva Vita for €400m in November last year.
Just one month later, Aviva agreed to sell the entire shareholding of its wholly owned life insurance business in Vietnam to Manulife.
In February 2021, it sold its 40% stake in its Turkish joint venture.
Before selling off its Polish operation for €2.5bn a month later.
