Insurance, savings and investment group Legal & General (L&G) is to purchase UK annuity buy-out firm Lucida for 151m pounds after identifying retirement solutions as one of its 'five key themes for growth'. Lucida, founded in 2006, closed to new business in November 2012 and is currently responsible for over 31,000 pensions in payment with a portfolio of £1.4bn of annuity assets.L&G said it would use surplus capital to purchase the firm and expects operational and capital synergies to allow the release of £66m of capital and reserves immediately after completion, giving a net acquisition price of £85m.Completion is expected in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approval, and the acquisition should be earnings accretive to L&G in its first year.Annuity sales at L&G were strong in the first quarter with record individual annuity premiums up 51% at £406m. "We identified retirement solutions as one of our five themes for growth, and I'm delighted today to be able to announce our first acquisition in this arena. So far this year we have completed the UK's largest ever longevity insurance deal, announced our first international BPA transaction and delivered record Q1 individual annuity premiums. "This acquisition will benefit Lucida's customers, by providing them with the comfort of knowing their pensions will be paid by a longstanding, trusted and well capitalised business. Legal & General's annuity business has over 700,000 customers who rely on it for their pension income, and manages over £33bn in assets."