24th Mar 2014 06:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Standard Life PLC Sunday said it is in advanced talks over a potential deal to acquire Ignis Asset Management Ltd from FTSE 250 Phoenix Group PLC, a move that would add substantially to its assets under management.
The Edinburgh-based long-term savings and investments provider said the talks over a potential deal for Ignis, which has some GBP67.6 billion in assets under management, are exclusive. Most of Ignis's assets under management are related to fixed income.
With GBP244.2 billion in assets under administration at the end of 2013, a deal to acquire Ignis could result in Standard Life increasing that figure by almost a third.
The talks were confirmed in a separate statement by Phoenix Group, the UK-focused closed life assurance fund consolidator that specialises in the management and acquisition of closed life and pension funds, but neither company gave financial details of the possible deal.
Ignis is one of the FTSE 250 company's core businesses, with Phoenix Assurance being the other.
Both companies said there is no certainty of a transaction will be agreed, though Phoenix Group said it will brief the market when it publishes its annual results, Wednesday.
No bid has yet been made.
Ignis is one of the UK's largest managers of annuity assets.
Last week, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne outlined proposals in his 2014 budget to change the face of the annuity market, putting an end to the effective requirement on individuals to buy annuities to convert their pension pots into income in retirement.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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