Aviva and Direct Line reach agreement

Aviva has reached an agreement to acquire Direct Line for 3.7 billion GBP (4.6 billion USD), to be paid in cash and shares. The deal will give rise to the UK's largest motor and home insurer.

Under the terms of the agreement, for each Direct Line share held, shareholders will get 0.2867 new Aviva shares. Upon closing of the acquisition, Aviva and Direct Line shareholders will hold respectively 87.5% and 12.5% of Aviva's share capital.

The takeover is still pending approval from the relevant authorities, notably the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which will conduct an in-depth review.

As a reminder, Direct Line rejected Aviva's takeover offer in November 2024. The two British groups reached a preliminary agreement on a possible acquisition on 6 December.