Royal London and LV= have confirmed that they are in ‘exploratory discussions’ with regard to a possible merger.
Royal London issued a statement on 10 December 2021 outlining its belief that it could “offer an attractive future for the members of LV= as part of a growing and well-capitalised mutual”.
In a statement on 7 February, LV= interim chair, Seamus Creedon said a previous deal with a US private equity firm had been put to the one million plus members of the mutual,had been rejected in the member vote. “Put simply, our members told us that what they viewed as the modest financial advantages of the transaction, were not worth the loss of ownership and voting rights.”
Creedon added: “We share a common interest with Royal London in a healthy and vibrant mutual sector so that we can both compete fairly with shareholder-owned firms. We have had, and continue to have, discussions with Royal London about if and how we can co-operate to the benefit of both sets of members and the mutual sector. In the meantime, we will continue to strengthen our independent business for the benefit of our existing and future policyholders.”
In its own statement on 7 February, Royal London said it noted LV=’s announcement and could “confirm we have had initial, exploratory discussions with them”.
The mutual added that there was “no certainty” that the discussions would result in a transaction but that “a further announcement will be made as and when appropriate”.
[Main image: simone-hutsch-unsplash]
