Generali, the Italian insurance group, agreed terms on Monday to buy out the minority shareholders in Alleanza, a smaller rival in which it is the controlling shareholder, in a transaction that values the target at about €4bn ($5bn).

The buy-out has long been on the cards. But Generali stepped back from finalising it several times in recent years because on each occasion it was poised to announce a deal, Alleanza’s share price jumped. That made a buy-out more expensive than the Trieste-based insurance group wanted, until now.