Aviva To Sell Italian JV To Banco BPM

(RTTNews) - British life and health insurer Aviva Plc (AV.L, AV) Friday announced that its Italian unit Aviva Italia Holding SpA has exercised an option to sell its entire 50% shareholding in its joint venture in Italy, Avipop Assicurazioni S.p.A. and its wholly owned subsidiary Avipop Vita S.p.A. to Banco BPM S.p.A.

The joint venture is owned by Aviva and Banco BPM. It distributes life and general insurance products in Italy through Banco BPM's bank branch network.

The decision follows a notification received by Aviva in June of Banco BPM's intention to not renew its bancassurance agreement with Aviva.

In 2016, the two businesses contributed 0.2 billion pounds to Aviva's IFRS net assets and generated approximately 14 million pounds IFRS operating profit before tax.

Aviva's joint ventures in Italy with UBI, UniCredit, as well as business units Aviva Life S.p.A. and Aviva Italia S.p.A. are unaffected.

Maurice Tulloch, CEO Aviva International Insurance, said, "This transaction will realise value for Aviva shareholders and will allow us to invest further in our future growth. Aviva has momentum in Italy and I am confident about our prospects. We are now in a good position to grow our business further, with our partners and through digital."