Now that he has CGU and NZI firmly in his grasp, IAG CEO Michael Hawker still has to pay for them – and that’s not proving too easy in the present market environment. IAG has told shareholders taking part in its share purchase plan they will pay $2.40 a share – a 5% discount on its original share purchase offer.

The insurer had initially set out to raise $380 million from shareholders to fund its $1.86 billion acquisition of British Aviva’s general insurance businesses CGU and NZI. The offer had been made at $2.55 per share and has remained listed at around $2.53 ever since.

Although IAG succeeded in raising $500 million from an institutional share placement earlier this year, this time it has fallen short $287 million.