Aviva agrees £340m sale of overseas business unit

Aviva has sold a loss-making overseas arm which serves wealthy clients in the Middle East and Asia in a £340 million deal.

Its Friends Provident International subsidiary has been disposed of to International Finance Group months after Aviva announced it was carrying out a strategic review of the business.

It had acquired Friends Provident as part of its £5.6 billion takeover of Friends Life Group in April 2015. Aviva said the disposal would enable it to focus on more profitable parts of the business.

Chris Wei, executive chairman of Aviva Asia and Friends Provident, said: “The sale of Friends Provident International is a good outcome for Aviva. It allows us to focus on the significant opportunities we have to grow Aviva’s business across Asia through digital and disrupting the traditional insurance industry.”

Aviva said Friends Provident will continue to serve customers as usual and there would be no change to policies as a result of the sale.