(Bloomberg) -- Phoenix Group Holdings Plc is in talks to acquire Swiss Re AG's U.K. insurance unit ReAssure Group Plc in what could become its largest-ever acquisition, people with knowledge of the matter said.
A deal could be announced as soon as the coming days, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. No final agreements have been reached, and negotiations could still fall apart, the people said.
Swiss Re called off a London IPO of ReAssure in July, which was seeking to value the business at as much as 3.3 billion pounds ($4.3 billion). The company said last month it's planning to cut its stake in the business to under 50%.
Phoenix, which has a market value of 5.3 billion pounds, has been buying up portfolios from legacy insurers under pressure from rising costs. A deal for ReAssure could surpass its 3 billion-pound purchase of Standard Life Aberdeen Plc's insurance unit last year as Phoenix's biggest-ever deal, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Phoenix CEO Eyes Takeovers as Insurance Industry Consolidates
A purchase of ReAssure by Phoenix has been speculated for years given the strategic fit and potential cost savings of a combination. For Phoenix's Chief Executive Officer Clive Bannister, the deal would be a final curtain call after building the business through a series of acquisitions. Its shares are trading close to a record high after having surged more than 30% this year.
Bannister, a former head of private banking at HSBC Holdings Plc and the son of sub-four-minute-mile runner Roger Bannister, has run Phoenix for the last eight years. Aside from the acquisition of Standard Life's insurance unit, his purchases include Deutsche Bank AG's U.K. insurance unit Abbey Life Assurance Co., and Axa SA's U.K. pension and protection business.
His planned departure in March 2020 was announced last month and he will be succeeded by Andy Briggs, who joined from Aviva Plc.
A representative for Phoenix declined to comment, while representatives for Swiss Re and ReAssure couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jan-Henrik Förster in London at jforster20@bloomberg.net;Dinesh Nair in London at dnair5@bloomberg.net;Aaron Kirchfeld in London at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net;Ruth David in London at rdavid9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net
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