Standard Life, formerly known as Phoenix Group, has agreed to acquire Aegon's UK arm for £2bn, creating a pensions and savings group with 16 million customers and £480bn of assets under administration. The deal includes £750m in cash and 181.1m new shares issued to Aegon.
Aegon UK, which traces its roots to Scottish Equitable founded in Edinburgh in 1831, has 3.7 million customers and 2,000 employees. Aegon acquired the business in 1998 and rebranded it in 2009. The sale is part of Aegon's strategy to focus on the US market and rebrand as Transamerica.
Aegon CEO Lard Friese stated: '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.'
Standard Life CEO Andy Briggs said the deal 'significantly accelerates our vision to be the UK's leading retirement savings and income business'. He plans to cut £110m in costs, with half achieved in the first three years, and acknowledged some job impact but described it as 'more modest' than other deals.
Aegon will become Standard Life's largest shareholder with a 15.3% stake and will appoint one non-executive director. The transaction follows Phoenix Group's acquisition of Standard Life's insurance business in 2018 and the subsequent rebranding to Standard Life this year.
