Aviva has departed the Italian insurance market with a £750million sell-off in its latest divestment aimed at enhancing its balance sheet and refocusing operations on its core markets.
The insurer said it had offloaded its Italian life insurance wing to CNP Assurances for €543million and had received €330million for its general insurance business from German financial services giant Allianz.
It added that the sale's proceeds will go towards investment and paying down debts, while shareholders will receive excess capital. The deal is now subject to regulatory approval, which Aviva expects to be accpeted in the latter half of this year.