Standard Life secures deal to buy rival Aegon’s UK business
Standard Life has agreed to buy rival Aegon’s UK business for £2bn in a move set to create a pension and savings giant with 16m customers and £480m assets under administration.
The deal will see Standard Life – recently rebranded from Phoenix Group – pay £750m in cash, part-funded through debt, and issue 181.1 million new shares to Dutch financial firm Aegon.
Aegon will own a 15.3 per cent stake in FTSE 100 listed Standard Life following the acquisition and can appoint one non-executive director to the combined group’s board.
Andy Briggs, Standard Life chief executive, said: “Our agreement to acquire Aegon UK significantly accelerates our vision to be the UK’s leading retirement savings and income business.
“Together, we will not only be stronger, we will be better.”
Standard Life is understood to have seen off rival bidders such as Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays to secure the deal.
Amsterdam-listed Aegon, which is based in Schiphol in the Netherlands, put its UK arm up for sale at the end of last year as part of a group-wide overhaul that will see it move its headquarters to the US and be renamed as Transamerica.