Aviva buys 75% stake in Ark Life

AVIVA, Britain’s biggest insurer, won European antitrust approval to buy a unit from Allied Irish Banks as the two companies team up to sell savings products in Ireland.

Aviva’s purchase of a 75% stake in Allied Irish’s Ark Life unit raises no antitrust concerns, the European Commission, the European Union’s antitrust regulator, said in a statement yesterday in Brussels.

“The combined firm will continue to face several strong, effective competitors with significant market shares as well as competition from new entrants,” the commission said.