Chesnara Share News (CSN)

March 29 (Reuters) - Chesnara Plc, aninsurance-focused takeover specialist, reported on Thursday asurge in full-year pretax profit, driven by strength in itsdomestic business and gains from its acquisition of Legal &General's Dutch insurance business.

Chesnara, which mainly buys life insurance funds closed tonew customers, said IFRS pretax profit rose to 89.6 millionpounds ($126.2 million) in 2017, from 40.7 million pounds a yearearlier.

"We now have sufficient scale and presence in both the UKand the Netherlands to continue our focus on acquisitionactivity in those territories. We also remain open minded aboutnew territories," Chesnara said in a statement.

($1 = 0.7101 pounds)($1 = 0.7101 pounds)(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing byAmrutha Gayathri)