Aviva Investors, the global asset management arm of UK insurer Aviva, is poised to make its first acquisition since it was created in 2008, after striking a deal to buy a Kentucky-based firm in a move that also marks its first foray into US equities.

Aviva Investors, which was created when Aviva pooled and rebranded many of its diverse fund management operations, said in a statement to the UK stock market this morning it has agreed to acquire full control of River Road Asset Management, a value-based US equity manager with $3.6bn (€2.5bn) in assets under management as of the end of November.