Shareholders back Standard Life deal with AAM

Shareholders have overwhelmingly backed a £3.8billion financial services sector takeover of Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM) by Standard Life.

More than 95% of investors at Granite Citybased AAM and 98% at Standard Life voted in favour of the deal at general meetings held yesterday. The enlarged company, Standard Life Aberdeen, will be headed jointly by Martin Gilbert and Keith Skeoch, the current chief executives of AAM and Standard Life respectively.

AAM chairman Simon Troughton said the shareholders’ vote result was a “landmark”.

He added: “They recognise the strategic and financial rationale of the transaction which will create the UK’s largest active asset manager and one of the top 25 globally.

“This deal opens up significant opportunities across all facets of Aberdeen’s business and is an important step towards realising the company’s ambition of creating a worldclass investment business with a truly global footprint.”

The deal also faces regulatory scrutiny, with the Competition and Markets Authority last month launching an investigation to ascertain if the tie-up could harm competition within the industry.

If it gets the green light, the tie-up will create Europe’s second-biggest fund manager, with £670billion under the management of an enlarged company worth more than £11billion.

Standard Life chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone said: “There are still some approvals to be granted before the merger can complete and I know the teams in both companies are working through these diligently.

“We are still on track for a completion date of Monday, August 14, and will keep our shareholders informed of developments.”

Keith Skeoch