ReAssure to make £425m acquisition
A life insurance group with its headquarters in Telford has agreed to buy Quilter's heritage life and pensions division for £425 million.
The deal for Old Mutual Wealth Life Assurance is expected to be completed towards the end of the year.
Quilter Life Assurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quilter, is a closed book of unit-linked policies.
Formerly the core of Quilter's UK business, Quilter Life Assurance consists of pensions, investment and savings, and protection products with both retail and institutional offerings.
Quilter chief executive Paul Feeney said: "I am delighted we have agreed to sell Quilter Life Assurance to ReAssure. ReAssure is a highly regarded manager of closed book assets and has the experience to deliver continued high quality investment and administration services to clients of Quilter Life Assurance.
"The Quilter board is currently minded to return a meaningful proportion of the net surplus proceeds arising from the transaction to shareholders and will consult with them on the most appropriate means of undertaking this."
The agreement comes after ReAssure shelved plans to float on the London Stock Exchange last month.
Its parent, Swiss, said at the time the move was "in response to the heightened caution and weaker underlying demand in the UK primary market from large institutional investors".
ReAssure employs about 2,500 across five sites in the UK and is one of the largest employers in Telford.
It moved to the town to its purpose-built Windsor House in Telford Town Centre as Windsor Life Assurance in 1987.
The business had started in 1963 as The Occidental Life Insurance Company. In 2011 it was re-branded as ReAssure.
