Aviva to give staff £500 of free shares after DLG takeover

Aviva has said it is giving £500-worth of free shares to staff in September following its acquisition of Direct Line Group (DLG).

The £3.7bn deal was completed in July 2025 after the High Court of Justice sanctioned the scheme of arrangement pursuant to part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 on 1 July 2025.

In a half year trading update published today (14 August 2025), Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc said that the integration was “well underway”.

And in a press briefing, the top boss revealed that it is celebrating the deal by offering shares to colleagues.

She said: “The integration is underway and we are moving at speed.

“We see plenty of opportunities and with our track record in personal lines, we have real confidence that we’ll unlock the full potential of the combined business.

“To celebrate and recognise the acquisition, everyone at Aviva, including our new Direct Line colleagues, will receive £500-worth of free shares this September.”

DLG update

Due to the deal completing after the period to which Aviva’s interim half year results announcement applies, DLG’s H1 2025 numbers are not consolidated in the results.

However, Aviva did reveal that using DLG’s accounting policies as the basis of preparation with no adjustments to align to existing Aviva policies, motor and non-motor premiums were flat at £1,343m and £500m respectively. Motor policies were 6% lower at 3.7 million and non-motor policies were 4% lower at 4.9 million.

Meanwhile, net insurance margin, DLG’s measure of underwriting profitability, increased 7.6pp to 9.4%.

Aviva added that integration was “well underway” and that the acquisition will add “further capital-light operating profits with c.10% run-rate EPS accretion”.

In her results statement, Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc said: “We completed the acquisition of Direct Line at the beginning of July, just six months after our recommended offer, and integration is well underway.

“The combined business is a UK market leader with over 21 million customers, or 4 in 10 adults, and we are confident the deal will contribute significantly to Aviva’s future growth.”