8th Oct 2026 08:51
(Alliance News) - Aberdeen Group PLC on Thursday said it has raised GBP436 million after selling around half its stake in London-based retirement savings provider Standard Life PLC.
The Edinburgh-based wealth and asset manager, which announced the plans late Wednesday, confirmed it has sold 52 million shares in Standard Life at 839 pence each through a placing, reducing its interest in the FTSE 100 listing to 5.2% from 10.3% currently.
In response, shares in Standard Life were down 5.2% at 826.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning. It was the worst performing stock on the FTSE 100, which was down 0.8%. In contrast, Aberdeen rose 1.4% to 237.60p each.
Aberdeen said it intends to deploy the proceeds in accordance with its "disciplined capital allocation policy, which is focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet, investing selectively in the business to support sustainable profitable growth, reducing and optimising debt over time, and delivering sustainable returns to shareholders".
Chief Executive Jason Windsor on Wednesday said the sale is further progress to simplify the group.
"We see attractive opportunities to invest in growth and will continue to allocate capital where we believe it can generate the best returns for shareholders, while maintaining a strong balance sheet," he added.
On Wednesday, Aberdeen said it will continue to be a key partner to Standard Life under existing asset management arrangements and remain one of its largest shareholders.
Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management PLC completed an GBP11 billion merger in 2017 to form Standard Life Aberdeen PLC.
In 2018, the group sold its UK and European life/insurance business Standard Life Assurance to Phoenix Group. The parent company dropped the Standard Life name and rebranded as abrdn in July 2021 and subsequently changed its name to Aberdeen Group.
On Wednesday, Aberdeen also confirmed that its dividend policy remains unchanged and that the placing has no impact on its existing 2026 targets of adjusted operating profit of at least GBP300 million and net capital generation of GBP300 million, and Aberdeen remains confident in their delivery.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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