Agenda: Do big insurance mergers work?

Tony Cornell

RSA's unwelcome bid for Aviva raises many issues but the main one is whether mergers between large insurance companies work in the long term.

RSA was one of the first major mergers in the consolidation that took place in the UK market from 1996 to 2001. It was the outcome of a merger between Royal Insurance and Sun Alliance. It probably went down as the textbook way of how not to merge large companies. To satisfy both sides, it appointed joint chief executives from the two companies who then waged a turf war for supremacy. True integration took years to achieve and did not really take place until both left. The company was in dire

Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.

To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@insuranceage.co.uk.

You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@insuranceage.co.uk to find out more.

Sorry, our subscription options are not loading right now

Please try again later. Get in touch with our customer services team if this issue persists.

New to Insurance Age? View our subscription options

Register

Sign up and gain access to five complimentary news articles every month.

Already have an account? Sign in here

This address will be used to create your account

You need to sign in to use this feature. If you don’t have an Insurance Age account, please register now.

Sign in
You are currently on corporate access.

To use this feature you will need an individual account. If you have one already please sign in.

Sign in.

Alternatively you can request an indvidual account here: