Insurer to make £28m gain and boost net assets by £8m after sale to ITAS Mutua

RSA is selling its Italian business to mutual insurer ITAS Mutua.

The sale includes all the personal and commercial business from the Italian branches of Royal & Sun Alliance and Sun Insurance Office.

RSA Italy accounts for £221m of net written premium and made a £1m underwriting loss for the group in 2013.

Under the deal, RSA will transfer £434m of insurance liabilities to ITAS for a goodwill payment of £19m.

RSA will make a £28m gain on the sale, and the transaction will boost the insurer’s tangible net assets by about £8m.

It will boost RSA’s surplus regulatory capital under the EU’s Insurance Groups Directive by £50m.

The company expects to finalise the deal during the second half of 2015, subject to regulatory approval.

RSA group chief executive Stephen Hester said: “This transaction continues the excellent momentum of our announced disposals in 2014 and represents further progress in tightening the strategic focus of the group.”