Aviva to buyback up to £750m of ordinary shares

RNS Number : 3751I

Aviva PLC

12 August 2021

 

12 August 2021

Aviva plc to commence buyback of its ordinary shares for up to a maximum aggregate consideration of £750 million*

Aviva plc ("Aviva") announces it will commence a share buyback programme of its ordinary shares for up to a maximum aggregate consideration of £750 million¹ (the "Programme"), commencing on 13 August 2021.

Aviva has entered into a non-discretionary agreement with Citigroup Global Markets Ltd ("Citi") to conduct the Programme on its behalf and to make trading decisions under the Programme independently of Aviva (except Aviva's ability to terminate Citi's mandate in certain limited circumstances). Shares acquired by Citi under the agreement will be sold on to Aviva and, to the extent permitted by law, such purchased shares will be cancelled. The purpose of the Programme is therefore to reduce Aviva's share capital.  The maximum number of shares to be acquired under the Programme is 300 million¹ and the Programme is expected to complete by 17 February 2022.

Amanda Blanc, Group Chief Executive Officer, said:

"We are delivering on our commitment to make a substantial capital return to our shareholders. We intend to return at least £4 billion to investors by the end of the first half of 2022 (subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, completion of disposals and market conditions), starting with a share buyback of up to £750 million . Buying back our shares will reduce our share count in line with our more focused group and create additional value for our shareholders as we transform Aviva's performance."

Note: Any purchase of Aviva ordinary shares contemplated by this announcement will be executed in accordance with Aviva's general authority to repurchase ordinary shares granted by its shareholders on 6 May 2021, Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014 and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (both as incorporated into UK domestic law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018), and Chapter 12 of the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules.

*This announcement contains inside information. The person responsible for making this announcement on behalf of the Group is Kirstine Cooper (Group Company Secretary).

¹ During the Programme, Citi has discretion to notify Aviva of a reduction in the Programme size due to a decrease in trading liquidity of the shares.  If such notification is received, a further announcement will be made.

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Enquiries :

Media:

Andrew Reid  [phone]

Sarah Swailes  [phone]

Analysts:

Jakub Rosochowski  [phone]

Notes to editors :

· For information on how Aviva is helping our people, customers and communities impacted by COVID-19 visit: www.aviva.com/covid-19-our-response/  

· We exist to be with people when it really matters, throughout their lives. We have been taking care of people for more than 320 years, in line with our purpose of being 'with you today, for a better tomorrow'. In 2020, we paid £30.6 billion in claims and benefits to our customers.

· Aviva is invested in our people, our customers, our communities and our planet. In 2021, we announced our plan to become a Net Zero carbon emissions company by 2040, the most demanding target of any major insurance company in the world. This plan means Net Zero carbon emissions from our investments by 2040; setting out a clear pathway to get there with a cut of 25% in the carbon intensity of our investments by 2025 and of 60% by 2030; and Net Zero carbon emissions from our own operations and supply chain by 2030. Aviva has been leading this agenda for decades: Aviva was the first international insurer to go operationally carbon neutral in 2006 and we are champions of renewable energy and energy storage at our offices, allowing us to achieve our 2030 carbon reduction target (70% reduction on 2010 levels) 10 years early. Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/climate-goals and our sustainability ambition at www.aviva.com/sustainability .

· Aviva is a Living Wage and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at www.aviva.com/social-purpose  

· We are focused on the UK, Ireland and Canada where we have leading market positions and significant potential. We will invest for growth in these markets. We will also transform our performance and improve our efficiency. Our transformation will be underpinned by managing our balance sheet prudently, reducing debt and increasing our financial resilience. We also have strategic investments in Singapore, China and India.

· At 30 June 2021, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group are £522 billion and our Solvency II shareholder capital surplus is £12 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.

· For more details on what we do, our business and how we help our customers, visit www.aviva.com/about-us  

· The Aviva newsroom at www.aviva.com/newsroom includes links to our spokespeople images,  podcasts, research reports and our news release archive. Sign up to get the latest news from Aviva by email.

· You can follow us on:

o  Twitter: www.twitter.com/avivaplc/  

o  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aviva-plc  

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· For the latest corporate films from around our business, subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/aviva  

 

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