Royal London and LV= talks end

9 February 2022

Royal London has issued a statement saying that the merger talks between the two mutuals have “ceased”.

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 a member vote. He added that the mutuals shared “a common interest… 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”.

However, on 9 February, in statement from Royal London, Barry O’Dwyer, group chief executive of Royal London, said: “Mutuals are owned by their customers and are run for their benefit” and the company had entered the discussions in the “belief that we could offer an attractive future for the members of LV= as part of a growing and well-capitalised mutual.

“Our offer to preserve LV=‘s mutuality through a merger with Royal London was based on an understanding that LV= did not have a viable future as an independent company.

“For Royal London’s customers and members, nothing changes. We remain committed to delivering great value products, backed up by market-leading customer service. We look forward to sharing a substantial level of profits with our eligible customers in April, as we normally do.”

[Main image: simone-hutsch-unsplash]

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