Standard Life plc has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Aegon UK plc for a total consideration of \u00a32bn, a move designed to accelerate the group\u2019s vision of becoming the \u201cUK\u2019s leading retirement savings and income business\u201d.<\/p>\n
The transaction will be financed through a combination of \u00a3750m in cash \u2014 supported by \u00a3650m in new debt \u2014 and the issuance of 181.1 million new ordinary shares to Aegon.<\/p>\n
Upon completion, which is anticipated for the end of 2026, Aegon will hold a 15.3% strategic stake in the enlarged group and will be entitled to appoint a non-executive director to the board.<\/p>\n
The deal is expected to create a market leader with approximately \u00a3480bn in assets under administration and 16 million customers.<\/p>\n
Group CEO Andy Briggs stated that the acquisition \u201csignificantly accelerates our vision\u201d and puts the firm in a \u201cstronger position to meet the evolving needs of our 16 million customers with enhanced digital, advice and distribution capabilities\u201d.<\/p>\n
He further noted that the transaction \u201caccelerates our shift to capital-light while strengthening our cash, capital and earnings position\u201d.<\/p>\n
From a market perspective, the acquisition elevates Standard Life to the position of the UK\u2019s second-largest workplace pensions platform and transforms it from a smaller player into the second-largest retail pensions and savings platform by assets.<\/p>\n
Aegon CEO Lard Friese commented that \u201cStandard Life is the right owner for Aegon UK\u201d and that the \u201ccombination offers an excellent outcome for Aegon UK\u2019s customers and colleagues\u201d.<\/p>\n
Financially, the group is targeting \u00a3110m in annual recurring pre-tax cost synergies by 2031 and expects an increase in operating cash generation of \u00a3160m per annum.<\/p>\n
The deal is also projected to deliver \u00a3400m of additional excess cash over the five years following completion, which the company says will increase \u201cfuture flexibility to invest or return capital\u201d.<\/p>\n
As the integration proceeds, the group will operate under a transitional services agreement to ensure continuity for Aegon UK\u2019s existing systems and branding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Standard Life plc has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Aegon UK plc for a total consideration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[114,268,85,46,266,267,54177],"class_list":{"0":"post-393154","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance","14":"tag-standard-life"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}