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Standard Life Aberdeen eyes opportunities from £3.2bn Phoenix life insurance deal



Insurance group Phoenix has struck a £3.2 billion deal to buy rival ReAssure in its largest-ever acquisition.

The proposed deal adds £84 billion of assets under administration and over 4 million policies to Phoenix which employs approaching 3,000 staff in Scotland. The deal cements the position of Phoenix, which bought Standard Life Aberdeen’s insurance arm in August 2018 in a similar sized deal, as Europe’s largest life and pensions consolidator.

ReAssure is currently owned by Swiss Re Group and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings.

Keith Skeoch, CEO of Standard Life Aberdeen which owns a stake of around 20% in Phoenix following the deal which saw it acquire Standard Life Assurance, said the acquisition “illustrates the substantial consolidation opportunities that exist within the UK and European insurance sectors which was a key factor in our making our strategic investment in Phoenix”.

“As a leading provider of investment solutions to both Phoenix and ReAssure we will be working with Phoenix to understand the additional opportunities that the proposed acquisition creates for Standard Life Aberdeen,” he added.

Phoenix’s CEO Clive Bannister said the deal was a “highly attractive acquisition” in line with its growth strategy. “The acquisition will contribute £7 billion of incremental cash generation and give us the opportunity to capture significant cost and capital synergies,” he said.

The size of the deal means it needs shareholder approval and Phoenix is hoping to complete the acquisition by mid-2020.

Last month Phoenix announced that Bannister is to step down next year and be replaced by Andy Briggs , a former managing director of Scottish Widows and chief executive of UK Insurance for Aviva.

Bannister, CEO of Phoenix which employs more than 3,000 staff in Edinburgh and Glasgow, will retire on 10 March after nine years with the business. He will be succeeded by Briggs, who will join the business as CEO-designate on 1 January 2020.

Bannister has overseen huge growth at Phoenix, with assets under management rising by 263% to £245bn during his tenure.



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