It’s not quite a done deal, but Dame Amanda Blanc’s tilt at Direct Line Group looked dramatically more likely to succeed after the Aviva boss sweetened her old offer with £224 million of additional cash and £30 million of extra Aviva shares on Thursday night.
By Friday morning Direct Line announced it was ready to capitulate to a provisional offer now valued at 275p per share, or £3.6 billion after adding a dividend from its own coffers into the mix.
Analysts said it dramatically shortened the odds on a successful deal. Philip Kett at Jefferies said: “This represents a swift conclusion to the situation at a fair price, which we see as the best possible outcome, as it avoids the need for Aviva to pursue