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L & G eyes Ipswich growth after £62m deal | L & G eyes Ipswich growth after £62m deal |
| Written by Lautaro Vargas | |
| Wednesday, 02 April 2008 | |
![]() Suffolk Life chief executive officer, Henry Catchpole Legal & General says that if the deal goes through it will accelerate growth and development at Suffolk Life, a company which has already seen the funds under its administration rise over 120 per cent in two years to £2.9 billion and pre-tax profits rise a massive 396 per cent over the same period. Neither company would be drawn on the precise nature of the growth plans and whether there would be any geographical expansion beyond Suffolk Life’s Ipswich headquarters where the firm currently employs around 180 staff – a headcount that has doubled in the last three years. Head of media relations at Legal & General, Richard King, said: “By adding our distribution network we expect that we can push the business forwards. Suffolk Life has a very good product with a very efficient platform and all staff are to remain in their current roles.” If L&G does manage to boost growth even further at the firm it would prove a very positive deal for Ipswich, home of Suffolk Life since it was founded in 1971. It has recently become a pioneer in the development of the UK Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) market, building a strong reputation based on its expertise, knowledge and service delivery, which has made it one of the UK’s leading specialists in the provision of SIPPs. Its growth over recent years has been impressive with gross assets under administration increasing over 380 per cent from £0.6bn in 2003 to £2.9bn by the end of 2007. Since 2005, the number of SIPPs administered is up 78 per cent to 10,273 and premium income has increased 132 per cent to £777m (2005: £335m). While pre-tax profit has also grown massively, an increase of 396 per cent since 2005 to £1.24m in 2007, this was all achieved in 2006 (520 per cent) and the 2007 figure is actually a 20 per cent drop over 2006’s £1.55m. Both chief executives of Suffolk Life and L&G state there is room to improve this even further as well as to expand the capabilities of L&G’s own offerings. For Suffolk Life this follows a review of the business and its strategic options at the end of 2007, which chief executive officer, Henry Catchpole, said confirmed that its distribution lines still needed work. He said: “Whilst the development of the pensions landscape presented Suffolk Life with attractive opportunities to grow profitably, Suffolk Life’s development could be accelerated through being part of a larger group which offered clear distribution synergies.” Tim Breedon, Legal & General Group’s chief executive, agrees: “Combining Suffolk Life’s product expertise and service delivery with Legal & General’s extensive distribution reach will transform Suffolk Life’s growth potential and create an outstanding business within Legal & General.” Suffolk Life is also expected to play a crucial role in the development of L&G’s savings business, which has also been outlined as carrying strategic priority, in particular with relation to pensions and mass affluent market areas. “Suffolk Life enables us to accelerate our growth in these key expanding markets,” said Breedon. “Suffolk Life is an outstanding business which has developed a leading position in the fast growing bespoke SIPP market.” Suffolk Life has recommended the all cash offer to its shareholders, which is subject to both shareholder and FSA approval and at £15.75 for each Suffolk Life Share, values the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Suffolk Life at approximately £62 million. Legal & General Retail Investments (LGRI) has already received binding irrevocable undertakings to accept the offer from all Suffolk Life directors and various other Suffolk Life shareholders, representing over 52 per cent of its existing issued share capital.
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