Aviva raises $ 566 million from Delta Lloyd stake sale

Reuters: Aviva Plc has raised 353 million pounds ($ 566 million) from the sale of its remaining stake in Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd, a disposal intended to help turn around the flagging share price of Britain’s second biggest insurer.

Aviva sold all its 34 million shares in Delta Lloyd, the company said on Tuesday, an amount equivalent to just over 19 per cent of the Dutch firm’s capital. The shares were priced at 12.65 euros per share, representing a 1.6 per cent discount to Delta Lloyd’s closing share price of 12.86 euros on Tuesday, it said.

“The offering was completed very successfully with strong investor demand and priced at a narrow discount to the closing price,” Aviva said in a statement. “This sale will be a good start to 2013,” Chief Executive Mark Wilson said in an earlier statement. He said it supported the group’s aim to narrow its focus.

Aviva’s shares, which closed down 1.7 per cent on Tuesday, fell more than 30 per cent from the beginning of 2011 to last June. They have since begun to recover as the insurer has hived off parts of its business, including its US unit and its share of a Spanish joint venture.

It acquired Delta Lloyd in 1973 but began offloading its interest in 2009 after an unsuccessful attempt to challenge corporate governance rules that limited its control. Last July, it raised $ 494 million via a sale of 37 million shares in the Dutch firm.

Aviva said Morgan Stanley was coordinating the sale, and acting as joint bookrunner along with Goldman Sachs and Barclays. ABN AMRO is co-lead manager.