Aviva sells Your Move to Barclays

Aviva plc has sold its Your Move estate agency and e.surv surveying businesses to Lending Solutions Limited, backed by Barclays Private Equity, for £42m (€62.9m).

The aggregate net asset value of Your Move and e.surv on December 31, 2003, was £5m (€7.5m) and the aggregate pre-tax operating profit in 2003 was £1m (€1.5m).

Lending Solutions Limited is a new company which has been formed for the purpose of acquiring Your Move and e.surv from Aviva.

Its management team comprises members of the existing Your Move and e.surv management teams, and it is funded by a combination of private equity and debt financing.

Jim Newman, finance director of Norwich Union Life and Pensions and the outgoing chairman of Your Move, said: "Having received a number of expressions of interest, we concluded that these businesses were no longer core to Aviva’s strategy and could be more effectively developed under new ownership.

"We wish the management team and employees every success in their new venture."

Your Move has around 230 branches and 2000 staff in the UK.

e.surv, which operates from around 80 offices, employs approximately 600 staff, including 250 chartered surveyors