The financial world was abuzz over the weekend, as news broke that Standard Life was in late-stage talks to acquire Aberdeen in an all-share merger.
By Monday, Standard Life revealed that it had agreed to buy Aberdeen for £3.8bn, creating the largest fund group in the UK and second-largest entity of its kind in Europe, with £660bn of assets under management.
Shares in both companies spiked to year-to-date highs, reflecting the market’s unanimous approval of the match-up of the two rivals.
At the time of writing, Standard Life’s shares were up substantially by 5.8% to 400.3p, a level it had not reached since early December 2015.
Meanwhile, the value of Aberdeen’s shares had risen by 4.8% to 300p.
Last year was not smooth sailing for either firm.
In the immediate Brexit aftermath, shares in Standard Life lost 22.6% of their value, falling from 343.3p per share to 265.8p.
