Job fears over merger talks

Even before shareholders in Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management vote today on the merger of the two companies, talk has surfaced that Standard Life is planning to enter negotiations on a takeover of its Edinburgh arch rival Scottish Widows.

Such a deal would leave the resulting triad one of the biggest insurance and asset management combines in Europe. Scottish Widows’ owner Lloyds Bank acquired the business back in 2000 for £7 billion in the heady belief (at the time) of the enduring merits of ‘bancassurance’ and compelling synergies. But the climate – and EU regulation – has changed, bancassurance is no more, and Lloyds has been keen to sell Widows for some time.

There will be much rhetoric again about synergistic benefits. But it is just these that are likely to create a firestorm over job losses – coming as they would hard on the heels of a merger which has sparked controversy over the planned loss of 900 jobs and savings of some of some £200 million. A merger with Widows would almost certainly mean it is not just the Widow in the advert who will be doing the mourning.