Aviva Considering Sale Leaseback of UK Property Portfolio

The Times - London - 08 September 2003

AVIVA, the insurance group, is considering plans to outsource the management and ownership of its six million sq ft property portfolio in the UK.

The company, which has offices stretching from Perth in Scotland to London and Norwich, has appointed Deloitte & Touche, the accountants, to conduct a strategic review of its office portfolio and recommend ways to run the estate more efficiently. Deloitte & Touche is expected to deliver a range of options in the autumn, which could include transferring the ownership and management to a specialist property outsourcing company, or transferring the property management function but retaining ownership of the properties.

Aviva houses about 33,000 employees in several hundred buildings. The group’s property holdings are more complex than most companies because it was spawned from a series of mergers. Commercial General Union initially merged with General Accident in 1998; two years later the group, renamed CGU, merged with Norwich Union to form CGNU. In 2002 the business was rebranded as Aviva.

A spokesman for Aviva confirmed that the insurance company was reviewing options but insisted that the move was not cost-related. “This is about ensuring we have the right offices for our staff which can deliver our business objectives. It is not in any way linked with a desire to raise funds,” he said.
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