RSA Insurance has entered into an agreement to dispose of its China business, Sun Alliance, in a £71m cash deal.
The sale to Swiss Re Corporate Solutions is subject to obtaining regulatory approval. It is believed that the deal will result in a gain on sale and an addition to the group’s tangible net assets of approximately £26m.
RSA Group chief executive Stephen Hester said: "This transaction builds on the momentum of our recently announced disposals in the Baltics, Poland and Canada, and represents continued progress against our aim of tightening the strategic focus of the Group."
"We are continuing to evaluate further non-core disposals, some of which we expect to agree during 2014."
RSA also has businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, and India. The move is part of its strategy to sell non-core assets to bolster capital and focus on its core markets in Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia.
The Chinese business operations of RSA underwrites both commercial and personal insurance risks and accounted for £14m of net written premiums in the group’s 2013 financial statements.
The deal follows after recent sale of RSA’s operations, including its shareholding in Canadian insurance brokerage business Noraxis Capital Corporation to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co and its Latvia business AAS Balta to Poland’s Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen sa (PZU).
Image: Swiss Re corporate headquarters at Mythenquai in Zurich. Photo: Jochen Jansen.