CVC Capital-led group emerges as frontrunner in Standard Life pensions deal, FT reports

CVC Capital Partners

22/04/2026 20:26

April 22 (Reuters) - A consortium led by CVC Capital Partners CVC.AS and Prudential Financial PRU.N has emerged as a frontrunner to acquire a stake worth over 1 billion pounds ($1.35 billion) in Standard Life's SDLF.L pension risk transfer (PRT) business, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.

Standard Life is presenting the joint venture as a way to compete with North American private groups such as Apollo and Brookfield, the Financial Times said.

PRT takes on pension liabilities from companies looking to offload their retirement schemes. It has become a key growth driver in the insurance industry.

An agreement, if reached, could come as early as the end of next month, the report said.

CVC Capital Partners declined to comment, while Standard Life did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

On March 16, Standard Life reported a larger-than-expected rise in annual profit but a significant drop in book value and investors' caution over a slowdown in the bulk annuity market ​sent shares of the firm down 3.2%.

"We think (pension-risk transfers) will come through in the form of 40 to 60 billion pounds of pension risk transfers a year, although 2025 was actually a slow year," Standard Life finance chief Nicolaos Nicandrou told Reuters last month.

($1 = 0.7402 pounds)

 (Reporting by Mihika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

 ((Mihika.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com))