Legal & General is to acquire the 75 per cent share capital of investment platform Cofunds, which it does not already own for £131m.
The transaction will be financed out of Legal & General's existing cash resources. The acquisition values Cofunds at £175m and is subject to regulatory approval, says L&G.
Legal & General has identified digital solutions as one of its five key drivers of future growth. An L&G spokesman said that the acquisition provides Legal & General with scale and distribution in the investment platform market, where assets under administration are forecast to double by 2017. Cofunds is one of the UK's largest investment platform for financial services and has over £50bn of assets under advice and a 22 per cent share of the UK investment platform market.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of this year and to be earnings positive by the end of 2014. Cofunds and Investor Portfolio Service will form a new business unit within the Savings division and the cost benefit is expected to be £11m per annum from 2015, with a one-off investment cost of around £17m.
Cofunds will retain its focus as a whole of market platform, serving both retail and institutional clients, and will remain a separate brand in the UK investment platform market.
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Mark Gregory, chief executive of Savings, Legal & General, said: "As we said at our preliminary results, digital solutions is one of our five drivers of growth. The projected growth in the investment platform market is substantial and we expect Cofunds to be a major beneficiary of this growth. Cofunds, alongside our existing platform IPS, provides us with the scale and capability to be a major player in this important and growing market."
"The Cofunds team has done a fantastic job in growing the business to be the largest platform in the UK market. We have worked with the team over a long period and recognise the excellent value and customer service the platform provides, and look forward to working with them to grow the business. Our acquisition of Cofunds will create a great opportunity to extend our asset gathering capability and grow our Savings business."
Charlie Eppinger, chairman of Cofunds, said: "Legal & General's decision to acquire the remaining 75% of the company is welcome and marks the start of an exciting new chapter in the future growth and development of the Cofunds proposition.
"The consortium ownership has served Cofunds extremely well for a long time, providing market knowledge, know-how and capital, however the platform needs to move to the next stage and it will greatly benefit from a single shareholder with a long-term commitment to the UK market."