Aviva rejects £5bn RSA bid for general insurance arm
Britain's biggest insurer Aviva has rejected an opportunistic bid by rival RSA to buy out its general insurance business, which could have been worth as much as £5bn.
The audacious approach came in a letter from RSA's chairman, John Napier, to Lord Sharman, his opposite number at Aviva, last month.
Neither company would comment today but RSA, which has grown aggressively by acquisition over the past half decade, is understood to have been very serious about the move. While Aviva believes the incident is now over, it was unclear tonight whether RSA might return with a revised offer.
News of the potential deal saw Aviva shares become the best performers in the FTSE 100 index, jumping 20.1p to 387.4p, adding more than £500m to the value of the company which stood at £10.9bn today. RSA, meanwhile, closed down 1.1p at 127.4p, valuing the business at £4.4bn.
RSA had intended to tap its shareholders for the £5bn it needed to buy the general insurance arm of Aviva. The rights issue would be underwritten by Deutsche Bank, which is advising Aviva along with Rothschild, and a host of other banks, according to City sources.