British insurer Royal & Sun Alliance said today it would sell assets and cut jobs as it sets about raising £3.6 billion sterling without resorting to an unpopular rights issue.
Britain's second-biggest general insurer, battered by asbestos and flood claims and a stock market slump, said 1,700 jobs would go in the United States and Britain.
It will sell a US insurance business, RSUI, and also float off the majority of its Asian-Pacific operations.
The insurer ousted chief executive Mr Bob Mendelsohn in September after a dismal spell of results and conducted a review of its business.
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It said today it would continue to focus on general insurance, where premiums have been rising, and that its revamped business would need £3.6 billion of capital.