Standard Life to buy Aegon UK for £2bn

(Sharecast News) - Standard Life said on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy the UK business of Dutch insurer Aegon for £2bn.

The deal includes the UK insurance and pensions operations of Aegon Europe and the price comprises £750m in cash and 181.1m newly-issued shares in Standard Life.

Standard Life said the acquisition will create the UK's largest retirements and savings and income business. The combined group will have 16m customers and assets under administration of around £480bn.

Aegon will be the largest shareholder in the group, with a 15.3% interest, and will be entitled to appoint a non-executive director to the board.

Standard Life chief executive Andy Briggs said: "Our agreement to acquire Aegon UK significantly accelerates our vision to be the UK's leading retirement savings and income business. We will be in an even stronger position to meet the evolving needs of our 16 million customers with enhanced digital, advice and distribution capabilities across Workplace and Retail, strengthening our standing in one of the world's most attractive markets.

"Furthermore, the transaction accelerates our shift to capital-light whilst strengthening our cash, capital and earnings position to create increased value for shareholders."

The deal is expected to complete around the end of this year.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said Standard Life "has ambitions to rival Aviva and Legal & General in size, and this is a big step forward".

"Through this deal it'll become the UK's second-largest workplace pensions provider, offering significant growth potential, despite the competition in the market," she said. "The UK has an ageing population and big pension adequacy gap, with more than half of current savers expected to struggle financially unless they up contributions, which offers big opportunities ahead for Standard Life. Its own survey out earlier this week showed that a chunk of retirees are returning to the workforce because of financial difficulties. The expansion of auto-enrolment schemes could also offer access to greater numbers of employees.''

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