Aviva, a global insurance company, has exercised its option to buy out the stakes held by the minority shareholders of Societe d Epargne Viagere (SEV), a French life insurance company in which Aviva already has an 83.7% equity stake.
SEV is the joint underwriter of AFER life insurance products in France alongside Aviva Vie, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva.
Aviva has purchased 16.3% of the total shares in SEV from the minority shareholders for a cash consideration of €121.5m.
Aviva has a partnership with AFER, a France-based savings association, to provide its half a million members with life insurance products.
In the first half of 2010 sales through Aviva’s partnership with AFER increased by 39% on a local currency basis to €1,863m compared to the same period in 2009.