8th May 2018 09:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - Standard Life Aberdeen PLC said Tuesday it rejected the termination of its asset management agreement with Lloyds Banking Group PLC by Lloyds, saying its merger with Aberdeen Asset Management PLC had not put it "in material competition" with the bank in the UK.
Standard Life PLC merged with former FTSE 250 constituent Aberdeen Asset Management in August of last year, a transaction that formed the justification for the proposed deal termination, according to Standard Life Aberdeen.
However, the investment company said Tuesday it does not agree that the merger constituted any competition with Lloyds and, therefore, said it rejects the termination of the pair's asset management arrangement.
The deal between the two companies cover an aggregate of GBP109.0 billion in assets under management, which represents the 4.4% of Standard Life Aberdeen's full-year 2017 revenue.
The arrangement had been put in place as part of Aberdeen's acquisition of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership from Lloyds back in 2014.
With the purchase of the fund management operation of Scottish Widows, Aberdeen also was given a contract by Lloyds to run Scottish Widows' assets.
Tuesday's news follows the announcement in February by Standard Life stating that Lloyds and Scottish Widows Investment Partnership had decided to review Standard Life Aberdeen deal.
The companies are now in talks to reach a final agreement, according to Standard Life Aberdeen.
Lloyds has issued no statement on the situation.
Shares in Standard Life Aberdeen were down 0.1% at 362.10 pence on Tuesday, while Lloyds was up 0.4% at 65.75p.
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