Standard Life Aberdeen to sell insurance arm for £3bn

Standard Life Aberdeen is to sell its UK and European life insurance business to consolidator Phoenix Group in a £3bn cash and shares deal.

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The deal was announced on Friday in Standard Life Aberdeen’s full year results.

Standard Life Aberdeen chair Gerry Grimstone said: “The 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.”

In a separate statement Phoenix Group’s chief Clive Bannister, said the deal “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”.

Bannister added that Standard Life Aberdeen had chosen to become its largest shareholder with a holding of 19.99%.

Completion of the acquisition is expected during the third quarter of 2018.

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