Sun Life also establishes long-term strategic partnerships with the UK’s largest long-term savings and pensions business
TORONTO AND London, August 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – Sun Life Financial Inc . (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell SLF of Canada UK Limited (“Sun Life UK”) to Phoenix Group Holdings plc (“Phoenix Group” “) (LSE: PHNX) Headquartered in LondonPhoenix Group is the UK’s largest long-term savings and pensions business with more than 13 million customers and £310bn of assets under management.
Sun Life UK manages life policies and pensions and pension blocks for UK customers. The company is closed to new sales and has operated as a new business in the life and pension policy segment since 2001.
Sun Life to sell Sun Life UK to Phoenix Group for a closing price of £248m (approx 385 million Canadian dollars) and will retain its economic interest in the UK paying annuity business. This transaction will also provide further growth opportunities for Sun Life’s asset management businesses.
As part of the sale, Sun Life will form a long-term partnership to become a strategic asset management partner of the Phoenix Group. Sun Life’s asset management companies, MFS and SLC Management, will continue to manage approx 9 billion dollars of the general account of Sun Life UK after the closing of the sale.
Phoenix Group has set a target to invest approx 25 billion US dollars in North American public and private fixed income and alternative investments over the next five years. MFS and SLC Management will be material partners of Phoenix Group in achieving this goal.
“We are excited to partner with Phoenix Group. Great consideration has been given to finding the right buyer and partner for our UK business. Phoenix Group is a purpose-driven company with similar values to Sun Life and a strong focus on delivering results for their clients. We are also delighted with our asset management partnership, which will bring the strength of MFS and SLC Management to Phoenix Group clients,” said Kevin Strain, President and CEO of Sun Life. “Thank you to our UK team for all their efforts in delivering solid results year on year across our life, pensions and annuities businesses. We believe Phoenix Group will be an excellent organization for our employees and clients in United Kingdom.”
“This acquisition is very attractive to Phoenix Group. As the UK’s largest long-term savings and pensions business with a strong track record of UK closed-book integrations, we look forward to providing a safe home for Sun Life UK customers for the long term and enabling them to benefit from our wide range of Standard Life products in our open division,” said Andy Briggs, Phoenix Group, CEO. “I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the colleagues who will be joining us from Sun Life UK. We are also delighted to enter into a new long-term strategic asset management partnership with MFS and SLC Management, Sun Life’s Asset Management businesses This partnership will complement our existing relationships and further enhance our liquid and illiquid credit capabilities. North America relying on their strong presence in the region”.
Since 2016, Phoenix Group has successfully completed four acquisitions totaling approximately £7.5 billion. This has supported the growth of their assets under management by more than 300% over the past five years through organic and inorganic growth.
Strain added, “The sale of the Sun Life UK business is in line with our strategy to grow fee-based and light businesses. It also frees up capital to continue our journey of creating long-term value for our shareholders. This transaction also aligns with our objective to continue building our Sun Life asset management backbone by creating an attractive long-term partnership with the UK’s leading long-term savings and pensions business.”
This transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2023, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Fenchurch Advisory Partners acted as financial advisor to Sun Life on this transaction and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP served as legal advisor.
Slides related to this announcement are available at www.sunlife.com.
About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets around the world, including Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia AND Bermuda. Regarding June 30, 2022Sun Life had total assets under management of 1.26 trillion Canadian dollars. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades in Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) under the symbol SLF.
About Phoenix Group
Phoenix Group is the UK’s largest long-term savings and pensions business. With £0.3 trillion of assets under administration, we offer our approximately 13 million customers a wide range of products across our market-leading pensions, savings and life insurance brands, which include Standard Life and Sun Life. We support people throughout their savings cycle and our vision is to help even more people on their journey to and beyond retirement by providing the right support at the right time.
A member of the FTSE 100, we are a steadily growing business, united by a common purpose – to help people secure a life of opportunity. This drives everything we do and means making responsible and sustainable investment decisions and using our presence and voice to drive change for the better for our customers, our colleagues and our wider community.
We have been recognized as a leading employer for many years. We are accredited as a Living Wage Employer and a Carer Positive Exemplary Employer for providing the best support for colleagues who are carers.
Linkedin: PhoenixGroup-UK Twitter: @PhoenixGroupUK
Forward-looking statements
From time to time, Sun Life makes written or oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Securities and Exchange Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements contained in this release include, without limitation, statements (i) about our strategies, (ii) about our expected sale of Sun Life UK, (iii) about our growth initiatives and objectives other business, (iv) regarding the expected timing of the closing of the transaction, (v) regarding the expected impact of the transaction on our business and financial results, (vi) that are predictive in nature or that depend on or refer to future events or conditions, and (vii) that include words such as “intends”, “expects”, “will” and similar expressions.
These statements represent our current expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events and are not historical facts and remain subject to change, particularly in light of the ongoing and evolving COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the global economy and its impact uncertain in our business. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. The forward-looking statements in this news release do not reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring or special items or of any disposition, merger, acquisition, other business combination or other transaction that may be announced or that may occur after the date hereof. this news release. If any other special item or non-recurring transaction occurs, the financial impact may be complex and the effect on our operations or results will depend on the particular facts for that item and we cannot describe the expected impact in a meaningful way or similarly we may present known risks that affect our business.
The forward-looking statements are made to assist investors and others in understanding our expected financial position and results of operations as of the date of this announcement, as well as our objectives for the transaction, strategic priorities and business outlook following the transaction. , and to better understand our anticipated operating environment following the transaction. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes and undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements.
The following risk factors related to our intention to divest Sun Life UK could have a material adverse effect on our forward-looking statements: (i) the ability of the parties to complete the transaction; (ii) the failure of the parties to obtain the necessary consents and approvals or to otherwise satisfy the conditions to the completion of the transaction in a timely manner or at all; (iii) our ability to realize the financial and strategic benefits of the transaction; and (iv) the impact of the announcement of the transaction and the dedication of our resources to the completion of the transaction. All of these risks could have an impact on our business relationships (including current and future employees, customers, distributors and partners) and could have a material adverse effect on our current and future operations, financial condition and prospects. . Other important risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this presentation are set forth in our MD&A for the period ended June 30, 2022 and in SLF Inc.’s other annual and interim regulatory filings. filed with Canadian securities regulators or filed with US securities regulators, which are available for review at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unforeseeable events, except as required by law.
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Corporate Communications |
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T: 647-515-7514 |
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SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc.
