Aviva has completed the acquisition of AIG’s protection business for £453m.
The deal, announced in September last year, sees Aviva purchase AIG Life from Corebridge Financial, a subsidiary of the US-based insurance giant.
The completion of this deal follows clearance by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), which did not raise objections to the takeover, and at the end of last month said it would not be conducting an in-depth ‘phase two’ investigation into the deal.
As a result of this deal Aviva will gain 1.4m group protection members and 1.3m individual protection customers. The acquisition will see Aviva bolster its footprint in the SME group risk market and the high net worth market — where AIG Life had built a strong presence in the UK.
According to Corporate Adviser’s Workplace Protection and Wellbeing report, Aviva was already the biggest group income protection insurer, in terms of the number of employees covered, with a 11 per cent growth in this sector in 2022. It also saw the number of employees covered via group life and group critical illness policies grow during the year.
Announcing the purchase last year Aviva said this was part of its strategy to grow ‘capital-light’ businesses and will broaden its distribution in the UK protection market, where it has enjoyed strong organic growth in recent years.
This is the largest acquisition made by the current CEO of Aviva, Amanda Blanc Publishing their full year results last month, which were ahead of forecasts, Blanc confirmed that Aviva aid would continue to look for “selective” acquisitions.