Legal & General Group Plc has agreed to sell its general insurance business to Allianz Holdings plc.

The proposed sale consists of a base price of £242 million payable at completion and potential further payments over a three year period from ongoing commercial arrangements.

The proceeds from the disposal will be reinvested in Legal & General’s growing core businesses.

The general insurance business being sold comprises principally retail customers who hold household insurance policies. In 2018 gross written premiums were £410 million and operating profit was nil.

Nigel Wilson, CEO of Legal & General, said: “Selling the general insurance business is the right decision for our customers and shareholders. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank our general insurance colleagues for their contribution to Legal & General.

We continue to focus on delivering against our strategy, allocating shareholders’ capital rigorously. We are market leaders in ten UK markets and have a growing presence in the USA and an emergeneral insuranceng presence in Asia. Deploying capital in these businesses will deliver better outcomes for all our stakeholders. Our general insurance customers will benefit from the strength and capability of Allianz in the household insurance sector.”

Jon Dye, CEO of Allianz UK, added: “This is a good outcome for all the parties involved and acquiring a high quality business with 2 million customers to combine with the LV= general insurance business is a strong result. The Allianz Group has worldwide insurance experience, is robustly capitalised and has a strong reputation for customer service and these strengths will be applied to grow the business.”