Aviva cuts Delta Lloyd stake again

12th Apr 2011 08:48

Insurance titan Aviva is to raise £381m through the sale of part of its stake in Dutch and Belgian subsidiary Delta Lloyd.The insurer said 25m Delta Lloyd ordinary shares, representing 15% of Delta's total shares in issue, have been placed with institutional investors at a price of €17.25 per share.The sale reduced Aviva's holding in Delta Lloyd from 58% to 43%. Delta Lloyd is a financial services provider offering life insurance, general insurance, asset management and banking products and services. It was once a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva but the UK company floated off 42% of the company in November 2009 on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam exchange at €16 a share. "Reducing our share holding in Delta Lloyd will not only enhance our liquidity and further strengthen our balance sheet but is also consistent with our focus on pursuing profitable growth in markets where we have strength and scale," said Andrew Moss, chief executive of Aviva.In 2010, Delta Lloyd contributed to Aviva an international financial reporting standards (IFRS) operating profit of £536m and IFRS profit before tax of £895m. As at 31 December 2010, it had IFRS net assets of £4.3bn, or net assets of £3.1bn using the market consistent embedded value accounting practice. ---jh