Aviva is pushing further into the US with the purchase of an American fund management business.
The insurer is paying an undisclosed amount for Kentucky-based River Road Asset Management, which had assets of $6m at the end of 2008. The move is designed to boost Aviva's institutional business in the US. Aviva entered the US market in 2006 with the £1.6bn purchase of AmerUs and recently listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. It has been on the lookout for acquisitions after conserving cash with a dividend cut, and raising further funds with the partial flotation of its Dutch business Delta Lloyd.
Aviva shares have added 7.5p to 402p.
