Competition watchdog clears Aviva’s £460m acquisition of AIG Life

Aviva’s proposed £460million acquisition of AIG Life will not be referred to a phase two investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). 

In February, the CMA launched an initial probe to assess whether the acquisition could reduce competition across the UK services sector.

In September, FTSE 100-listed insurer Aviva announced the acquisition of AIG Life from Corebridge Financial, a subsidiary of American International Group, for £460million.

Aviva shares have risen over 19 per cent in the last year.  

Acquiring AIG’s life-insurance and retirement-services division is expected to add 1.3million individual protection customers and 1.4million group protection members to Aviva’s existing portfolio.

In September, Aviva’s boss, Amanda Blanc, said: ‘This acquisition brings significant strategic and financial benefits to Aviva.

‘It strengthens our prospects in the highly attractive UK protection market and continues our progress in repositioning the Group towards capital-light growth. 

‘We look forward to welcoming our new customers and colleagues to Aviva.’

At the time, Peter Zaffino, chairman and chief executive of AIG and chairman of Corebridge, said the deal would help focus the business on life and retirement products in the US. 

Corebridge was formed in 2021 when AIG spun off its life and retirement business and sold a portion of the company to Blackstone for $2.2billion.