Pension insurance business Rothesay Life is in talks to buy Aegon UK’s £8 billion annuity book.
The company is exclusive discussions to buy the book from Aegon, according to Sky News.
It is not known how much Rothesay is willing to pay for the book.
Aegon appointed investment bank Citi to oversee the sale of its annuity book last September.
An internal note to staff written by Aegon UK chief executive Adrian Grace confirmed the company was reviewing its annuity book with an eye to selling it.
At the start of January rival life company Legal & General was reported to be competing with Rothesay Life to buy the book.
Aegon UK’s annuity business has suffered since the introduction of pension reforms last April. In its last business update covering the three months between July and September 2015 the company’s life sales fell by 30% to £139 million. It attributed this to a decline in annuity sales.
The company has shifted its focus to its platform business. However, despite more than doubling its assets to £5.3 billion between September 2014 and September 2015 it is yet to break even.
If a deal was completed Aegon UK’s annuity book would move to specialist pension insurance business Rothesay Life.
The Goldman Sachs-backed company has swept up a number of annuity books. In May last year it acquired a £1.2 billion annuity book from Zurich. It also acquired a £3 billion bulk annuity business from MetLife in February 2014.
Source: New Model Adviser