The Dutch financial services group Aegon has struck a £2bn deal to sell off its almost 200-year-old UK arm to Standard Life, as part of a US push in which the group will be rebranded as Transamerica.
Standard Life, previously known as Phoenix Group, said the deal to buy Aegon UK would create a pensions and savings group with 16 million customers and £480bn of assets under administration.
Aegon put its UK business up for sale late last year, with companies including Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group named as possible bidders, as part of a wider restructuring that will result in its headquarters moving to the US and rebranding as Transamerica.
Aegon’s UK arm, which has 3.7 million customers, traces its roots back to Edinburgh in 1831, when it was founded as Scottish Equitable. Aegon acquired the business in 1998, rebranding as Aegon in the UK in 2009.
The FTSE 100 company Standard Life is paying £750m in cash for the business, and issuing 181.1m new shares to Aegon.
Lard Friese, the chief executive of Aegon, said: “The transaction represents an important step in our ambition to become a leading US life insurance and retirement group.
“Standard Life is the right owner for Aegon UK and a good home for our employees: we share the same values and a strong commitment to customers, and together the businesses will create the UK’s largest retirement savings and income provider.”
Aegon, which employs 2,000 staff in the UK with its headquarters in Edinburgh, will become the largest shareholder in Standard Life with a 15.3% stake. It will also be entitled to appoint one non-executive director to the group’s board.
Andy Briggs, the group chief executive of Standard Life, said: “With financial wellbeing at the heart of everything it does, Aegon UK’s values and culture are aligned with our own. Our agreement to acquire Aegon UK significantly accelerates our vision to be the UK’s leading retirement savings and income business.”
Phoenix Group acquired Standard Life’s insurance business from the then Standard Life Aberdeen for £3bn in 2018.
This year Phoenix, which operates brands including Sun Life, Reassure and Phoenix Life, rebranded as Standard Life.
In 2021, SLA, which took a 20% stake in Phoenix as part of the deal, rebranded to the widely mocked Abrdn. Last year it was renamed as Aberdeen. Aberdeen has since sold down its stake in Standard Life to about 10%.
