Standard Life’s AAM deal gets court nod
The £11 billion merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM) has cleared its final hurdle after the deal was sanctioned at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
The move saw shares in AAM suspended from trading at the close of business yesterday before they are cancelled from the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning.
The only step now needed to create the merged entity, called Standard Life Aberdeen, is for a copy of the court order to be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in Scotland. This is expected to happen on Monday, at which point the tie-up will become effective.
Announced in March, the merger is targeting savings of £200 million a year, with about 800 jobs expected to be lost over a three-year period from a global workforce of 9,000. The deal creates a global fund management giant with some £670bn of assets.
Figures earlier this week from Standard Life, led by chief executive Keith Skeoch, revealed a 6 per cent rise in operating profits to £362m for the six months to the end of June, while assets under management edged up 1 per cent to £362bn.
However, the results were overshadowed by outflows from one of its flagship funds.
Standard Life Aberdeen will be jointly headed by Skeoch and his counterpart at AAM, Martin Gilbert. The combined group will be chaired by Standard Life chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone, with AAM’S chairman Simon Troughton serving as deputy.