S&P Global Market Intelligence offer our top picks of insurance news stories and more published throughout the week.

All about deals

* Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Ltd., which trades as LV=, completed the sale of its remaining 51% stake in LV= General Insurance to Allianz Group for up to £1.08 billion. The German insurer also bought the general insurance business of Legal & General Group PLC.

* Quilter PLC completed the disposal of Quilter Life Assurance to Swiss Re AG unit ReAssure Group PLC for a total cash consideration of roughly £445 million. The agreed-upon cash consideration for the sale of Quilter's U.K. closed-book business was £425 million plus accrued interest payable under the agreement up to the completion date of approximately £20 million.

* Andromeda Investissements SAS, a holding company indirectly owned by funds managed by CVC Capital Partners Ltd., acquired a 10.18% stake, equivalent to 4,178,649 shares, in French insurance broker April SA from Persée Participations for €22 per share. The deal increased Andromeda's total ownership of April to 99.01% of share capital and 98.71% of voting rights. It intends to acquire the remaining shares through a buy-out offer, to be submitted for review to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, followed by a squeeze-out.

In other news

* Global property-catastrophe rate on line index rose by 5% on Jan. 1 renewals, based on preliminary calculations, according to Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC. Roughly 50% of the world's reinsurance renews on Jan. 1 of each year, making it a key date for the industry.

* S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on French insurance broker Siaci Saint Honoré SAS to negative from stable and affirmed the B- issuer credit rating, reflecting the agency's expectation of less-than-adequate liquidity at Siaci Saint Honore, with minimal positive free operating cash flow over the coming 12 months.

Featured during the week on S&P Global Market Intelligence

UK insurers would resist any attempt to expand Flood Re, trade body chief warns: But a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said a planned government review of flood insurance is expected to be a fact-finding mission, rather than a push to widen the reinsurer's remit.

Protection gap persists across insurance world, despite some progress: The rift between insured and economic losses continues to widen, despite a series of products and initiatives, but the efforts of the industry and governments have not been in vain, experts say.