Aviva buys RBC's general insurance business for $400 mln

LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - British insurer Aviva (Amsterdam: AW8.AS - news) 's Canadian division said on Thursday it was buying the general insurance division of Canadian bank RBC (Other OTC: RBCI - news) for C$582 million ($402.57 million).

Around 575 RBC Insurance employees will become part of Aviva Canada's operations as a result of the acquisition of RBC General Insurance, Aviva Canada said in a statement.

Aviva Canada has also entered a 15-year agreement with RBC Insurance, enabling RBC Insurance customers to buy Aviva Canada's property and casualty (P&C) insurance products, Aviva said.

Aviva (Other OTC: AIVAF - news) said it will make an estimated net after-tax gain of C$200 million on the deal, which it said would increase Aviva Canada's annual gross written premiums by around 20 percent.

($1 = 1.4457 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; editing by Simon Jessop)