Aviva linked with £7bn RSA takeover bid

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RSA takeover rumours continue to gather pace

Aviva is the latest insurance company to be linked with a takeover of rival RSA, according to weekend reports.

As stock market speculation surrounding a takeover bid for RSA intensifies, latest reports claim that Aviva is mulling a £7bn offer.

Two weeks ago rumours that an unnamed firm was considering a 175p per share offer for RSA swept through the City.

On Saturday, Thisismoney.co.uk reported that a source close to Aviva, which is advised by brokers JP Morgan Cazenove and Morgan Stanley, had suggested a £7bn bid was being considered.

Aviva declined to comment on the situation, with the report adding that some observers were sceptical about a deal as Aviva owns a large proportion of the general insurance market, especially in Asia.

However it claimed several sources said Aviva investors were keen to bring RSA group chief executive Andy Haste on board to run a combined company and could then be expected to sell off the life insurance business if a deal materialised.

Clive Cowdery, chief executive of acquisition vehicle Resolution, and whom Haste spent 20 years working with, declined to comment on whether it would be interested in buying the life side should a deal happen.

RSA failed with a £5bn attempt to buy Aviva's GI businesses in the UK, Ireland and Canada last year, leading to suggestions that Aviva is now ready to show its growth potential.

RSA is understood to have retained banking adviser Rothschild to evaluate its options, the report added. An RSA spokesman this morning declined to comment.