LONDON (Alliance News) - Legal & General Group PLC on Friday said it will sell Suffolk Life, a UK provider and administrator of self-invested personal pensions, to AIM-listed Curtis Banks Group PLC for GBP45.0 million, as part of a strategy of selling non-core assets to improve returns.
The deal is subject to a placing of 8.4 million new shares at 320 pence each by Curtis Banks, which is looking to raise GBP27.0 million to fund the deal, along with a new debt and revolving credit facility.
Curtis Banks, which also said Friday it is trading in line with its expectations, already boasts a portfolio of about 39,000 SIPPs. Ipswich, England-based Suffolk Life administers about 26,500 plans, including 3,600 commercial properties, and had GBP8.7 billion in assets under administration at the end of November 2015.
"Legal & General is delighted to have played a part in the success of Suffolk Life. It is a great business, but it is not core to our focused strategy going forward. Teaming up with Curtis Banks will help it to realise its strong potential, by creating one of the UK's largest SIPP providers," Mark Gregory, the FTSE 100 life and investments group's chief finance officer, said.
The deal will make Curtis Banks the second largest independent full SIPP provider in the UK, according to Executive Chairman Chris Banks.
"Suffolk Life is one of the oldest and most respected brands in the SIPP industry, with an excellent reputation for service and professionalism. We are delighted that Legal & General has chosen us to take ownership of this business and believe this reflects our strong standing and market reputation," Banks said.
Suffolk Life made a GBP1.3 million pretax profit in 2014, based on total income of GBP18.5 million and expenditure of GBP14.5 million.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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