Standard Life has confirmed it will buy AXA Elevate.
As New Model Adviser® reported yesterday, an announcement was published on stock listing website 4traders confirming the deal was set to go ahead.
This morning an official update was published to the market which confirmed Standard Life will buy AXA Elevate by acquiring AXA Portfolio Services, the company which houses AXA Elevate.
In 2014, AXA Portfolio Services posted a pre-tax loss of £17.1 million in the year to 31 December 2014. This was a slight improvement on a £19.8 million loss in 2013.
The deal will boost assets on Standard Life’s platform by £9.8 billion. At the moment the combined platforms have £36.4 billion of assets under administration. Together the businesses have 350,000 clients.
Both platforms currently use technology provided by FNZ, which Standard Life said would make the integration of the two platforms cheaper.
Barry O’Dwyer, managing director for corporate, retail and wholesale at Standard Life said it planned to change Elevate’s commercial model.
‘We have a track record of successful acquisitions and an integration approach focussed on building a sustainable commercial model for the Elevate platform,’ he said.
‘Today’s announcement demonstrates further progress towards building a simplified and well diversified investment company by strengthening Standard Life’s leading position in one of our key growth channels.’
David Tiller (pictured), head of adviser and wealth management propositions at Standard Life said the deal showed Standard Life’s long term commitment to the advised platform market.
‘This acquisition is a clear sign of our continued commitment to lead the UK adviser platform market. It demonstrates to advisers that, as the market consolidates, supporting their businesses and meeting the evolving needs of their clients is central to the long-term strategy of Standard Life,’ he said.
New Model Adviser® reported that Standard Life was close to agreeing to buy the platform for £250 million last month.
Sources familiar with the situation said Standard Life had beaten rival life company Zurich to secure the deal.
AXA has also announced plans to sell its remaining life and pensions business in the UK, which you can read here.
Source: New Model Adviser