The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Green light for finance mega-merger
The £11 billion mega-merger of Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life is expected to complete next month after it cleared another major hurdle.
The financial services companies first announced their intention to combine in March. The proposed merger has already been approved by shareholders of the two companies and has now taken a further step forward after receiving UK regulatory clearance.
“Standard Life and Aberdeen are pleased to announce the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority have confirmed their approval to enable the merger between the two groups to proceed,” the firms said in a joint statement to the London Stock Exchange.
“The transaction remains subject to certain regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions and to final approval at a court hearing scheduled for August 11 2017.
“The merger is currently expected to complete on August 14, 2017.”
Once finalised, the new entity, which will trade as Standard Life Aberdeen and be headquartered in Scotland, will immediately be the UK’s biggest asset manager, overseeing assets in the region of £660 billion.
Aberdeen shareholders will own a third of the new company, while the majority two-thirds share will be in the hands of Standard Life investors.
Between the two groups, the firms employ around 10,800 staff.
However, there have been fears that several hundred high-value jobs may be lost as the joined group looks to make millions in cost synergies as the companies come together.