Aviva Plc agreed to buy Direct Line Insurance Group Plc for roughly £3.7 billion ($4.65 billion) in a deal that would create the UK’s largest motor insurer.
Each Direct Line shareholder will be entitled to receive 0.2867 new Aviva shares, 129.7 pence in cash and as much as 5 pence in dividend, according to a statement on Monday. The transaction would value each Direct Line share at 275 pence apiece, representing a premium of about 73% to the closing price on Nov. 27, when Bloomberg News first reported the takeover interest.
The board of Direct Line considers the terms to be “fair and reasonable” and intends to recommend unanimously that its shareholde