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A Standard Life logo sits on a wall outside Standard Life House, the headquarters of Standard Life Plc, in Edinburgh, U.K., on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014.
Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management announced on Monday that they are set to join forces in an all-share deal in a bid to ward off rising pressures in an industry where the benefits of scale continue to mount.
Monday’s announcement follows a detailed leak on Saturday and the subsequent joint confirmation of advanced talks rushed out by advisors later that day.
The combined company would be two-thirds owned by Standard Life’s shareholders, however, management positions would be more evenly split with Standard Life’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Keith Skeoch, and his counterpart at Aberdeen, Martin Gilbert, jointly taking the helm.
Gerry Grimstone, Standard Life chairman for nearly a decade, will retain that position at the new company with Aberdeen’s Simon Troughton assuming the deputy chairman role.
The combination has been organized as a scheme of arrangement, a type of structure that requires approval from 75 percent of those holding voting shares as opposed to the 50 percent threshold needed for a takeover offer. Generally, a scheme of arrangement is only pursued when the acquirer is confident of the support of a target’s management and shareholders.
