Phoenix Group has purchased the insurance arm of Standard Life Aberdeen in a £3.2bn transaction. This follows the withdrawal of almost £110bn of assets by Scottish Widows – Standard Life Aberdeen’s single largest client – earlier this February.
On completion of the transaction, Standard Life Aberdeen will receive total consideration of £3.24bn, comprising cash consideration of £2.28bn and a shareholding of 19.99% in Phoenix Group. Meanwhile, the investor will keep Wrap, Elevate and Parmenion, its three adviser platforms.
Phoenix’s market reach will now extend into Europe with access to Standard Life Aberdeen’s presence in Germany and Ireland, as well as the UK.
Clive Bannister, the CEO of Phoenix, commented on the transaction:
“The proposed acquisition establishes Phoenix as the pre-eminent closed life fund consolidator in Europe with more than 10 million policyholders and supports a significant increase in Phoenix’s cash generation.
“The reinforced strategic partnership with Standard Life Aberdeen allows both companies to focus on their key strategic strengths whilst generating future value through the new client service and proposition agreement.”
The chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, Sir Gerry Grimstone, said:
“This transaction completes our transformation to a capital light investment business, a process started in 2010 with the sale of Standard Life Bank, continuing with the sale of our Canadian business and the merger last year between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management.
“This transaction represents excellent value for our shareholders, including a comprehensive and mutually beneficial strategic relationship entered into with Phoenix Group, a longstanding partner of the firm.”
One of the joint CEOs of Standard Life Aberdeen, Keith Skeoch, spoke about the firm’s current situation:
“We have continued to deliver for clients, helping to grow assets and dividends and our integration is on track.
“Investment performance has been mixed, and we have seen net outflows over the year. However, with over £80bn of gross inflows, there’s momentum behind us.”
