Aviva PLC has been approached by two unsolicited suitors who want to buy its United States operations, which are based in West Des Moines, according to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph, Reuters reported.

Aviva, Britain’s second largest insurance group, is being courted by financial and private equity buyers for its Aviva USA subsidiary, which is estimated to be worth some 1 billion pounds ($1.57 billion), the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The paper said Pat Regan, Aviva’s chief financial officer, has spent considerable time in Greater Des Moines to to prepare the business for sale, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

Aviva is seeking to sell or close more than a quarter of its businesses as part of a turnaround drive aimed at regaining the support of investors irked by a flagging share price, Reuters said.

Early in July it sold half its stake in Dutch rival Delta Lloyd Groep for 318 million pounds.

Prudential PLC and The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Manulife) are among four potential buyers bidding for Aviva’s Malaysian business in a deal worth about $500 million, Reuters said.

Aviva has not formally appointed an investment bank to run the process of selling Aviva USA but is expected to choose Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Sunday Telegraph said.

An Aviva spokesman in West Des Moines said that as a matter of policy the company would not comment on “the current media speculation.”