Aviva investors have been urged not to fall into a ‘trap’ set by a US predator looking to buy shares on the cheap, as pressure mounts on regulators to act.

Campaign group ShareSoc is the latest to speak out after the Mail last month revealed that Litani had written to 100,000 of the insurer’s individual investors offering them £5.30 for each of their shares.

The value of the so-called ‘mini-tender offer’ is well below last night’s closing price of £7.07, meaning anyone who accepts Litani’s offer will lose out.

ShareSoc condemned the American investment firm’s tactics and called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to step in and protect Aviva shareholders.

Aviva has already written to its army of retail investors – including those who received shares through the demutualisation of Norwich Union – to urge them against accepting Litani’s offer.

Echoing that warning, ShareSoc yesterday told shareholders to ‘check the market price before doing anything’.

It added: ‘ShareSoc strongly disapproves of the mini-tender, which is, in practice, nothing more than a trap for those who have not fully understood its terms.

‘We are calling on the FCA to give this practice urgent scrutiny and to issue a clear warning to consumers, and we support Aviva’s warning to its shareholders.’ 

Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann has also spoken out, telling the Mail last month: ‘My blood is boiling. 

It is a cynical attempt to exploit the vulnerable shareholders.’

The mini-tender offer is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK.

In its letter to Aviva investors, Delaware-based Litani offers to buy up to a million shares on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. The offer runs until January 29.

Aviva has a huge retail shareholder base of about 500,000. The insurer was formed through a series of mergers, notably absorbing former mutual Norwich Union. 

When the society demutualised, members were awarded shares.

An FCA spokesman said: ‘Shareholders are under no obligation to accept any offer.

‘They should consider carefully all available information before deciding, and may wish to seek advice before doing so.’