Aviva is preparing to sell its US division at an estimated loss of £800m, according to reports.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that the US arm, which was bought in 2006 for £1.8bn, is likely to be sold for £1bn.
Pat Regan, chief financial officer at Aviva, is undertood to be spending a considerable amount of time at the US business' Iowa headquarters to prepare for a sale and to supervise the process.
The decision to sell up follows a strategy review led by recently appointed chairman John McFarlane.
Mr McFarlane announced at the beginning of July that the insurer would be withdrawing from 16 underperforming business segments in a bid to focus on higher returns.
He said Aviva was to exit the non-core segments that were set to produce returns below the group's required capital, although Aviva USA was not specified as one of the under-performing segments.
Aviva declined to comment for the article.
