Standard Life Aberdeen sells to Phoenix

Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) has agreed to sell the bulk of its insurance business to Phoenix Group for GBP3.24 billion, as it posted broadly in-line full-year results.

The deal will see SLA receive GBP2.3 billion in cash and a 19.9 percent stake in Phoenix, which becomes Europe’s largest company focused on buying books of mature business from insurance companies.

SLA said the deal was for GBP158 billion in assets in its Standard Life Assurance Limited unit, founded in 1825 and one of the Britain’s oldest life and pensions businesses.

It said it would retain its UK retail platforms and financial advice business.

As part of the deal, SLA said it would expand the companies’ existing strategic partnership and look to be “the asset manager of choice” for Phoenix as it seeks more of the UK market for closed, mature business of around GBP300 billion.

“We are selling capital-heavy UK and European insurance businesses, moving us out of the Solvency 2 environment,” co-chief executive Keith Skeoch said.

The company also reported its first set of annual results since it formed last year through the GBP11 billion merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management.