Aviva agrees to buy Direct Line in £3.6bn insurance deal: is it time to buy shares?

Direct Line’s share price has jumped but still hovers below the 275p offer, with various elements still to be confirmed

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(Image credit: Hill Street Studios via Getty Images)

Aviva and Direct Line Group have agreed a sweetened cash, shares and dividends deal that will see Aviva acquire its rival and capture more than a fifth of the combined UK motor insurance market.

FTSE 100 constituent Aviva (LON:AV) had previously attempted to acquire Direct Line Group (LON:DLG) for 250p in November, but Direct Line’s board dismissed this offer out of hand, describing it as “highly opportunistic”, according to the FT.

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Dan McEvoy
Senior Writer

Dan is a financial journalist who, prior to joining MoneyWeek, spent five years writing for OPTO, an investment magazine focused on growth and technology stocks, ETFs and thematic investing.

Before becoming a writer, Dan spent six years working in talent acquisition in the tech sector, including for credit scoring start-up ClearScore where he first developed an interest in personal finance.

Dan studied Social Anthropology and Management at Sidney Sussex College and the Judge Business School, Cambridge University. Outside finance, he also enjoys travel writing, and has edited two published travel books.