REG - Chesnara PLC - Acquisition

ChesnaraAnnouncement

16/05/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230516:nRSP4776Za&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 4776Z  Chesnara PLC  16 May 2023

 LEI Number: 213800VFRMBRTSZ3SJ06

 

16 May 2023

 

CHESNARA plc
("Chesnara" or "the Company")

 

ACQUISITION OF ONSHORE INDIVIDUAL PROTECTION BUSINESS FROM CANADA LIFE UK

 

Chesnara plc, the European life and pensions consolidator, today announces it
has reached an agreement with Canada Life Limited ("Canada Life UK") to
acquire its onshore individual protection line of business, which was closed
to new business in November 2022. As a result of the acquisition, the life
insurance and critical illness policies for approximately 47,000 customers
will transfer to Chesnara's UK subsidiary, Countrywide Assured plc
("Countrywide Assured").

 

Customers' policies are expected to transfer to Countrywide Assured in 2024,
subject to the completion of a court-approved Part VII transfer. In the
interim period, Canada Life UK will reinsure the portfolio to Countrywide
Assured, effective from 31 December 2022. The consideration as part of the
reinsurance agreement is £9 million, funded from internal Group resources,
and we expect the transaction to provide an uplift in the Group's Economic
Value of approximately £7 million and additional cash generation over the
next five years of approximately £16 million. The impact on the Group's
Solvency II ratio is expected to be broadly neutral.

 

Steve Murray, Group Chief Executive, commented:

 

"We are delighted to be welcoming these 47,000 protection customers to
Chesnara and they can be confident we will continue to provide high levels of
customer service as part of a financially strong group. I am pleased that a
company as highly regarded as Canada Life has placed its trust in us to
support these customers and look forward to working with the team going
forward.

 

This transaction, the fifth deal announced in the last two years, will add
additional scale to our UK business and provides an attractive return on
investment for our shareholders.  We continue to see a range of M&A
opportunities and are highly confident in our ability to finance and execute
such transactions on attractive terms for both vendors and our shareholders."

 

 

Chesnara was advised by Burness Paull and Canada Life was advised by Herbert
Smith Freehills.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Investor Enquiries

Sam Perowne

Head of Strategic Development & Investor Relations

Chesnara plc

E - sam.perowne@chesnara.co.uk (mailto:sam.perowne@chesnara.co.uk)

 

Media Enquiries

Roddy Watt

Director, Capital Markets

FWD

T - 020 7280 0651 / 07714 770 493

E - roddy.watt@fwdconsulting.co.uk (mailto:roddy.watt@fwdconsulting.co.uk)

 

Notes to Editors

Chesnara (CSN.L) is a European life and pensions consolidator listed on the
London Stock Exchange.  It administers approximately one million policies and
operates as Countrywide Assured and CASLP in the UK, as The Waard Group and
Scildon in the Netherlands, and as Movestic in Sweden.

 

Following a three-pillar strategy, Chesnara's primary responsibility is the
efficient administration of its customers' life and savings policies, ensuring
good customer outcomes and providing a secure and compliant environment to
protect policyholder interests. It also adds value by writing profitable new
business in Sweden and the Netherlands and by undertaking value-adding
acquisitions of either companies or portfolios.

 

Over the past two years, Chesnara has announced five acquisitions: Canada Life
UK's onshore individual protection business and Sanlam Life & Pensions in
the UK, together with Robein Leven, the insurance portfolio of Conservatrix
and a small portfolio from SRLEV N.V. in the Netherlands.

 

Consistent delivery of the Company strategy has enabled Chesnara to increase
its dividend for 18 years in succession.

 

Further details are available on the Company's website (www.chesnara.co.uk
(http://www.chesnara.co.uk/) ).

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  ACQSFWFMIEDSEEI