RSA announces sale of Dutch Caribbean operation

Sun Alliance Insurance Overseas and Maduro & Curiel's Bank reached an agreement to sell Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Group's (RSA) Dutch Carribean operation to Fatum General Insurance, it was announced Thursday.

The sale of the FSTE 100 company's Antilles division is subject to regulatory approvals in Curacao, Saint Maarten, Aruba and the islands of Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba.

RSA, based in London, has a market capitalisation of £4,520.93m and reported £15m gross written premiums in 2011. The insurance company also has operations in Ireland, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, Canada, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Fatum General Insurance -- which runs in the Netherlands, the Caribbean and Aruba -- is purchasing the operation for an undisclosed figure.

Richard Houghton, RSA Group Chief Financial Officer, said: "While relatively small in terms of the group's capitalisation, today's announcement is further evidence of our determination to utilise our capital wisely and only focus on territories where we can achieve scale and deliver attractive returns to shareholders. In the majority of our markets we are already achieving our objectives but where we see no strategic fit or route to outperformance, we are committed to taking decisive action."

Shares were down 0.71% to 125.90p at 9:56 Thursday.

RD