Business
Acquisition of Standard Life Assurance
Acquisition of Standard Life Assurance.
About this update from Standard Life Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 7539F Phoenix Group Holdings 23 February 2018 \n\n-NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION\n \nTHIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION\n \nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n \nProposed acquisition of Standard Life Assurance and reinforced Strategic Partnership with Standard Life Aberdeen plc\n \nThe Board of Phoenix Group Holdings (\"Phoenix\" or the \"Company\" and, together with its subsidiaries, the \"Group\") is pleased to announce the proposed acquisition of the majority of Standard Life Assurance Limited and Vebnet Limited (together \"Standard Life Assurance\" or the \"Acquired Businesses\") for a total consideration of £2,930m(1) (the \"Acquisition\"), and the extension and significant enhancement of the existing long term Strategic Partnership with Standard Life Aberdeen (\"SLA\"). The Acquisition encompasses all of SLA's UK and European life insurance business. SLA will retain its UK retail platforms and advice business.\n \nCompelling Strategic Rationale and Significant Financial Benefits\n \n· Makes Phoenix the pre-eminent closed life fund consolidator in Europe and meets all of Phoenix's M&A criteria: The Acquisition creates an enlarged Group with £240 billion of legacy assets and 10.4 million policyholders. This greater scale and alignment with Phoenix's existing product mix strengthens Phoenix's capacity to generate shareholder value through the delivery of management actions and future accretive acquisitions.\n· Materially enhances the Group's cashflows over time: The Acquisition is expected to generate a total of £5.5 billion of additional aggregate cashflows, of which £1.0 billion is expected to be generated between 2018 and 2022 and £4.5 billion from 2023 onwards. \n· Delivers an increased dividend with enhanced sustainability: This additional cash generation supports a proposed increase in the annualised cost of the dividend to £338 million from the date of the 2018 final dividend. Based on the Phoenix closing share price of 759.5 pence per share as at 22...