Aviva acquires Certinvest

Aviva PLC
12 September 2007



News release

12 September 2007


                      AVIVA ACQUIRES CERTINVEST IN ROMANIA


Aviva plc ('Aviva') has entered into an agreement in Romania to purchase 99.8%
of the shares of Certinvest, a Romanian asset management company, from Eugen
Voicu, the CEO of Certinvest and the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF), a
private US corporation.


Certinvest, which had gross assets of €1.1 million (as at 30 June 2007), manages
approximately €24 million in four open-ended funds and also offers individual
investment accounts for high net worth individuals.


Tidjane Thiam, chief executive officer of Aviva Europe, said: 'This acquisition
is part of our European strategy to continually adapt our range of long term
savings products and services to meet our customers' needs.  This acquisition
confirms our clear ambitions for growth in Romania and more broadly in Central
and Eastern Europe.'


Pierre-Olivier Bouee, director of Central and Eastern Europe, Aviva, sees the
purchase of Certinvest as a major milestone in the development of Aviva Romania:
'This acquisition enables us to provide high quality asset management services
to our pensions, investment and life insurance clients.


'Over the past few years, the open-ended fund industry in Romania has shown an
annual growth rate of over 50% and we believe that there's considerable
potential for that growth to continue.'


The purchase is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to complete by
the end of the year.

                                    - ends -

Enquiries:


Media

Sue Winston, head of group media relations              [phone]
Vanessa Rhodes, group media relations manager           [phone]
James Murgatroyd/Ed Simpkins, Finsbury                  [phone]


Analysts

Charles Barrows, investor relations director            [phone]
Amanda Wilbraham, senior manager, investor relations    [phone]


Notes to editors:


•   The balance of 0.2% of the share capital will be held by four individuals.


•   Certinvest has four open-ended funds, each in a different investment 
    category: Intercapital, an equity fund, Capital Plus, a balanced fund, 
    Orizont, a fixed-income fund and Tezaur, a money market fund.


•   The Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF), established in 1995 by the 
    U.S. Congress, is a leading institution in private equity and investment
    banking/advisory services in Romania.


•   Aviva began life insurance operations in Romania in 2000 and now insures 
    over 400,000 Romanians.  In August Aviva received regulatory approval to
    establish a private pensions administrator and is now awaiting final 
    regulatory clearances to participate in the mandatory pensions market when 
    it begins on 17 September 2007.


•   Aviva is the leading provider of life and pensions to Europe with 
    substantial positions in other markets around the world, making it the 
    world's fifth largest insurance group based on gross worldwide premiums at 
    31 December 2006.


•   Aviva's principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management 
    and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £41.5 billion and 
    assets under management of £364 billion at 31 December 2006.


•   The Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media includes images, company and 
    product information and a news release archive.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange