ASX 200 flat on Wednesday

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was almost flat today, rising slightly to 6,590 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Westpac revealed today that it is going to sell Westpac General Insurance Limited and Westpac General Insurance Services Limited to Allianz and enter into an exclusive 20-year agreement for the distribution of general insurance products to Westpac’s customers.

The sale price of $725 million represents a multiple of 1.3x FY20 gross written premium and is estimated to result in a small post-tax gain on sale in FY21. The sale of the general insurance business adds around 12 basis points to Westpac’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio.

The transaction also…