British insurer Aviva rejects £5 billion takeover

British insurer Aviva said yesterday it had rejected a takeover bid for part of its business from rival RSA worth five billion pounds in cash.

The proposal was for its general insurance businesses in Britain, Ireland and Canada, while the takeover would have been funded by RSA issuing new shares, Aviva said in a statement.

“The board of Aviva considered the proposal carefully in conjunction with its advisers and is convinced that the highest value to shareholders will be delivered by retaining these businesses within the group,” it added. In a separate statement, RSA said Aviva had rejected the proposal “without any discussions taking place”.

It added: “RSA considers that its proposal represents fair value ... and would be in the interests of both sets of shareholders. RSA remains open to discussions with Aviva.” RSA also said a takeover would result in pre-tax cost synergies estimated at 300 million pounds a year.

The share prices of both Aviva and RSA fell in trading yesterday.

Aviva was down 0.72 per cent to 384.6 pence and RSA fell 1.33 per cent to 125.7 pence in afternoon deals on London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was also trading lower.