Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance have warned the amount of job cuts following the merger of the two companies in April could rise ‘over and above’ its initial estimate of 231 cuts.
The two annuity providers expect to complete the merger in April. The merged entity, to be known as the JRP Group, will have 1,200 staff working for it.
Last November, a scheme document issued to shareholders said the merged company would cut 5% of jobs in the first six months following the deal.
After this, they said the new business was expected to cut another 10% to 15% of jobs from the workforce. This would have led to around 231 job cuts.
In an updated scheme document published today, the companies warned of more cuts to staff numbers, following further analysis of the combined businesses.
‘Since publication, the integration team has undertaken a further and more detailed analysis across all business units which will, following completion of the merger, comprise the combined group,’ it said.
‘This analysis has highlighted that headcount reductions over and above those assessed at the time of the publication of the scheme document may be possible.’
The companies said they now expected ‘at least 20%’ of jobs to be cut following the merger, rather than this being the highest estimate.
However, the scheme document also said no decisions had been made about where the job cuts would fall. No final number will be given until the new company has consulted with employees and other bodies.
It also said JRP Group expected to expand following the merger and new staff would be taken on, so the headcount would not necessarily fall in line with the estimates.
Source: New Model Adviser