Life and pensions business Chesnara has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based closed life insurance business Scottish Widows Europe from Lloyds Bank subsidiary Scottish Widows for €110m (£95.98m).
The deal adds €1.7bn (£1.48bn) of assets under administration to Chesnara and approximately 46,000 in force policies.
The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 and is subject to customary regulatory approvals.
The firm said the acquisition will generate cash of €250m (£218m) over the lifetime of the policies held in the Scottish Widows Europe portfolio, with €100m (£87.25m) of the cash generated in the first five years.
Chesnara, which already has businesses in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands, said entrance into Luxembourg was “an additional attractive market,” and the addition of new policyholders based in Germany, Austria and Italy “provides a platform for increased consolidation and scale across Europe.”
Steve Murray, Chesnara CEO, said: "Scottish Widows Europe is another material and value-accretive transaction with a product set that we know well. It marks our entry into Luxembourg, providing a new platform for in-market and wider European consolidation and expansion.
“We are pleased that another major financial institution, Lloyds Banking Group, has chosen us to look after their policyholders. We look forward to welcoming Scottish Widows Europe policyholders and new colleagues to Chesnara.”
Chesnara was formed in the UK 2004 with the purchase of closed life and pensions book Countrywide Assured, which had been demerged from estate agency group Countrywide.
It has grown through the acquisition of three predominantly closed UK businesses, open life and pensions businesses in Sweden and the Netherlands and a closed Dutch group.
It administers just under 1m life and pension policies; 270k in the UK, 290k in Sweden and 370k in the Netherlands. It had £14bn of assets under administration as at 30 June 2025: £5bn in the UK, £6bn in Sweden and £3bn in the Netherlands.