US-EU Index & Corporate Actions Analyst, ORTEX

Harry Kalfas

US-EU Index & Corporate Actions Analyst

Global Financial Data and Analytics Platform

ORTEX

ORTEX is a global financial data and analytics platform providing real-time securities lending and short interest data, index rebalance data, holdings and insider transactions, trading signals, corporate actions and news,  stock machine learning and factor scores and other analytics. The majority of the data are downloadable and accessible through APIs.

Index Rebalance

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aviva-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21822:1" rel="noopener">Aviva's (AV/ LN)</a> £3.7B acquisition of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/direct-line-insurance-group-pl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21902:1" rel="noopener">Direct Line Insurance Group Pl (DLG LN)</a> combines two major insurers, with £125M in expected annual synergies by year three.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/direct-line-insurance-group-pl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21902:1" rel="noopener">Direct Line Insurance Group Pl (DLG LN)</a> shareholders to receive 0.2867 new <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aviva-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21822:1" rel="noopener">Aviva (AV/ LN)</a> shares, 129.7p in cash, and up to 5p in pre-completion dividends per share held.</li>
<li>The acquisition is expected to impact major UK and European indices on an intra-quarter basis.</li>
</ul>



Aviva's (AV/ LN) £3.7B acquisition of Direct Line Insurance Group Pl (DLG LN) combines two major insurers, with £125M in expected annual synergies by year three.

Direct Line Insurance Group Pl (DLG LN) shareholders to receive 0.2867 new Aviva (AV/ LN) shares, 129.7p in cash, and up to 5p in pre-completion dividends per share held.
The acquisition is expected to impact major UK and European indices on an intra-quarter basis.


Aviva’s £3.7B Acquisition: Key Index Changes

European Event-Driven Analyst

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Event-Driven

Direct Line Insurance Group Pl / Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Direct Line–Aviva deal has cleared CMA and court hurdles; only procedural steps remain.</li>
<li>Implied value is 312.19p vs. 306.6p close — a 1.82% spread with 7-day horizon.</li>
<li>I recommend long arbitrage exposure below 307p. This is a textbook risk arb trade: liquid, near-fully de-risked, and short-dated.</li>
</ul>


Direct Line–Aviva deal has cleared CMA and court hurdles; only procedural steps remain.
Implied value is 312.19p vs. 306.6p close — a 1.82% spread with 7-day horizon.
I recommend long arbitrage exposure below 307p. This is a textbook risk arb trade: liquid, near-fully de-risked, and short-dated.


Last Premium Collected: DLG’s Short-Dated Arbitrage Opportunity

Index Rebal Trades & Special Situations, Quiddity Advisors

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Index Rebal Trades & Special Situations

Quiddity Advisors

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

BioPharma Credit PLC Fund / Index Rebalance

<ul>
<li>In this insight, we take a look at the potential index changes for F100 and F250 in the run-up to the September 2025 index rebal event.</li>
<li>We see three M&amp;A-related intra-review changes for the F250 index prior to the September 2025 review <strong><em>(one announced later today)</em></strong> and then two more shortly after the rebal event. </li>
<li>Our latest estimates suggest there could be one regular change for the F250 index during the September 2025 rebalance. We do not currently see any changes for the F100.</li>
</ul>


In this insight, we take a look at the potential index changes for F100 and F250 in the run-up to the September 2025 index rebal event.
We see three M&amp;A-related intra-review changes for the F250 index prior to the September 2025 review (one announced later today) and then two more shortly after the rebal event. 
Our latest estimates suggest there could be one regular change for the F250 index during the September 2025 rebalance. We do not currently see any changes for the F100.


Quiddity Leaderboard F100/F250 Sep25 Results: Methodology Change Could Result in a Surprise Addition

<ul>
<li>Aviva’s sweetened 275p proposal for Direct Line, with a 73.3% premium, aims to strengthen its UK insurance market leadership and achieve £100M+ cost synergies, enhancing profitability and competitiveness.</li>
<li>The proposal values Direct Line at an 13.05x forward P/E multiple, higher than its five-year average of 9.95x. The acquisition is a transformative move for Aviva amidst ongoing sector consolidation.</li>
<li>PUSU deadline is 25 December. Gross spread is 8.8%. I believe Aviva will make a firm offer and would be long the spread. </li>
</ul>


Aviva’s sweetened 275p proposal for Direct Line, with a 73.3% premium, aims to strengthen its UK insurance market leadership and achieve £100M+ cost synergies, enhancing profitability and competitiveness.
The proposal values Direct Line at an 13.05x forward P/E multiple, higher than its five-year average of 9.95x. The acquisition is a transformative move for Aviva amidst ongoing sector consolidation.
PUSU deadline is 25 December. Gross spread is 8.8%. I believe Aviva will make a firm offer and would be long the spread. 


Aviva/Direct Line: Preliminary Offer Agreement

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>The lows have likely been established for this correction, but a bottoming process would likely take weeks or potentially months and could come with more tests of the lows.</li>
<li>Japan's TOPIX and Nikkei 225 are each testing their respective downtrends. The EURO STOXX 50 is testing resistance in the 4040-4090 range. Germany's DAX is testing major resistance at 14,815-14,950.</li>
<li>It is likely that this initial 2-3 week bounce has run its course; stick with cyclical value and defensives, areas we have been focused on for most of 2022.</li>
</ul>


The lows have likely been established for this correction, but a bottoming process would likely take weeks or potentially months and could come with more tests of the lows.
Japan's TOPIX and Nikkei 225 are each testing their respective downtrends. The EURO STOXX 50 is testing resistance in the 4040-4090 range. Germany's DAX is testing major resistance at 14,815-14,950.
It is likely that this initial 2-3 week bounce has run its course; stick with cyclical value and defensives, areas we have been focused on for most of 2022.


Sticking With Cyclical Value and Defensives; Adding Large-Cap Japan Technology

United Kingdom

Aviva PLC operates as an international insurance company that provides all classes of general and life assurance, including fire, motor, marine, aviation, and transport insurance. The Company also offers a variety of financial services, including unit trusts, stockbroking, long-term savings, and fund management.

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Aviva (AV/ LN)

Aviva’s £3.7B Acquisition: Key Index Changes

Aviva’s £3.7B acquisition of Direct Line will impact major UK and European indices, with Direct Line shareholders receiving cash and shares.

Harry Kalfas

Last Premium Collected: DLG’s Short-Dated Arbitrage Opportunity

Direct Line–Aviva merger is procedurally de-risked. 1.82% gross spread, 131.5% annualised IRR over 7 days. Liquid, short-dated UK scheme — ideal...

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Quiddity Leaderboard F100/F250 Sep25 Results: Methodology Change Could Result in a Surprise Addition

We see many high-impact F250 potential ADDs with opportunities to get added to the index during the regular Sep25 index review or on an intra...

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Aviva/Direct Line: Preliminary Offer Agreement

Aviva’s sweetened 275p proposal for Direct Line, with a 73.3% premium, aims to strengthen its UK insurance market leadership.

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Sticking With Cyclical Value and Defensives; Adding Large-Cap Japan Technology

Sticking With Cyclical Value & Defensives; Adding Large-Cap Japan Technology. 2-3 week bounce has likely run its course with $TOPIX $Nikkei 225,...

Vermilion Research

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