UK competition body opens probe into Aviva’s Direct Line bid

GlobalData

Thu, May 15, 2025, 2:54 AM 1 min read

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a probe into Aviva’s projected £3.7bn acquisition of Direct Line.

The contention watchdog said it is investigating whether the merger would pb to a “substantial lessening of contention wrong immoderate marketplace oregon markets successful the United Kingdom for goods oregon services".

“To assistance it with this assessment, the CMA invites comments connected the transaction from immoderate funny party,” it added.

The CMA is seeking feedback from funny parties by 29 May, with its findings from the archetypal signifier of the probe owed to beryllium published successful July.

The 2 insurers agreed connected the merger in December past year, with Aviva offering £3.6bn, oregon 275 pence per share.

Direct Line shareholders would ain astir 12.5% of the issued and to beryllium issued stock superior of the combined company.

The woody would consolidate Aviva’s presumption successful the UK centrifugal security market, creating a radical with a combined marketplace capitalisation of astir £16.6bn, according to the Financial Times.

UK-based Aviva reported a nett of £705m for the twelvemonth ended 31 December 2024, a 36% autumn from £1.1bn successful 2023.

At the clip of results announcement successful February, Aviva Group CEO Amanda Blanc said: “The projected acquisition of Direct Line is connected way and is simply a wide accidental to accelerate our capital-light growth, present superb work to millions much customers and enactment the wider improvement of the UK economy."

"UK contention assemblage opens probe into Aviva’s Direct Line bid " was primitively created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand.

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