Aviva to raise 1bn by listing its Dutch unit
INSURANCE group Aviva will today announce plans to raise £1bn through a partial flotation of Dutch unit Delta Lloyd.
The insurer is expected to float between 30 and 40 per cent of the Dutch business on the Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam.
The listing will be the biggest initial public offering in Europe in the last 18 months.
Last month Delta Lloyd chief executive Nick Hoek said it would float a 25-30 per cent stake “as soon as conditions allow” to bolster its capital and benefit from takeovers Delta Lloyd could do in the Benelux insurance market.
Aviva, which holds 92 per cent of Delta Lloyd, will retain a majority stake.
Hoek said Delta Lloyd’s attention was on the IPO process and not on acquisitions, despite speculation it could become a major consolidator in the Dutch market.
A number of insurance assets are on the market or are expected to be soon in the Netherlands, including life insurer Robein Leven and nationalised insurer
ASR. Analysts believe Delta Lloyd would be the most obvious buyer of such properties.
A spokesman for Aviva declined to comment but reiterated previous comments made by the company that Aviva would seek to float the division when market conditions were right.