Aviva reaches £3.6bn agreement to purchase Direct Line

275p per Direct Line share

Aviva has secured a £3.6bn preliminary takeover deal of Direct Line, one week after the latter rejected the initial offer from the UK insurance giant.

According to a London Stock Exchange notice today (6 December), the proposal will see Aviva pay 275p per Direct Line share, with the offer marking a 73.3% premium to Direct Line's closing share price on 27 November – the final closing price figure before the offer period began. The fresh offer included 129.7p in cash, 0.2867 new Aviva shares per Direct Line share, and dividend payments of up to 5p per share in aggregate, which will be paid before the completion of the acquisition. Shares in Direct Line rise by over 40% following rejection of £3.3bn Aviva bid The overall bid marks a...