LONDON (Reuters) - British insurer Aviva (>> Aviva) said on Friday it had agreed to sell its Italian joint venture to Banco BPM for 265 million euros (£232.73 million) in cash.

The sale of Avipop Assicurazioni will not affect Aviva's other Italian operations and is expected to complete in 2018, subject to regulatory approval, it said in a statement.

Aviva said the price represents 27.1 times Aviva's share of the joint venture's 2016 earnings after tax and will increase its Solvency II capital by around 200 million pounds.

(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)

Stocks treated in this article : Aviva, Banco BPM