Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Legal & General on the sale of Cofunds to Aegon for £140m. Cofunds is the largest investment platform in the UK with £77bn AUA. The sale includes the Investor Portfolio Service which provides platform services to a number of building societies including Nationwide.
 
L&G concluded that Cofunds requires a significant upgrade in technology to exploit its leadership position in the UK platform market and this was best achieved under Aegon's ownership as a specialist wealth platform provider.
 
For Aegon UK this transaction completes its strategic transformation from traditional life insurance to platform business and follows L&G’s acquisition of a £2.9bn back book annuity portfolio from Aegon in May 2016.
 
Mark Gregory, Legal & General Group Chief Finance Officer commented: “We were impressed by Fenchurch’s commitment to this engagement. Their deep sector relationships, intimate knowledge of the UK platform sector and first class M&A execution skills were important factors in successfully delivering this transaction.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised AXA on three separate disposals of its UK Life & Savings businesses, comprising:

• SunLife, the Over 50s direct-to-consumer protection business, and Embassy, AXA UK’s non-platform investment and pensions business, to Phoenix Group;
• Elevate, the wrap platform business with c. £10bn of assets under administration, to Standard Life; and
• AXA Wealth International, the Isle of Man offshore bond business, to Life Company Consolidation Group (LCCG).

The aggregate consideration for all three transactions is €832 million.

Paul Evans, CEO of AXA UK and CEO designate of AXA Global Life & Savings and AXA Global Health, commented: “Fenchurch’s advice was important in planning and preparing for the complexity of one, two or potentially three disposals and related separation issues. Their trusted senior relationships, authoritative insights into the M&A market and deep sector expertise were critical to successfully orchestrating all three transactions.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have acted as financial adviser to Just Retirement Group plc on its recommended all-share merger with Partnership Assurance Group plc, which completed today.

The Boards of Just Retirement and Partnership believe the merger will deliver significant strategic and financial benefits by using the combined group’s outstanding intellectual property and greater scale to accelerate existing strategies, whilst also creating the opportunity for cost synergies.

Rodney Cook, CEO of JRP Group, said: “Fenchurch’s life insurance sector knowledge, in-depth understanding of Just Retirement and senior team commitment were important factors in securing this complex merger and related equity capital issue during a period of considerable regulatory change. Fenchurch’s expert and independent advice helped us to navigate successfully all key transaction issues and align numerous stakeholders.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Prudential on the sale of its 25% stake in PruHealth and PruProtect to Discovery Group at a 100% valuation of £620m.

PruHealth was established by Prudential and Discovery in 2004 as a JV offering private medical insurance products, before expanding into the protection market through PruProtect in 2007. The JV generated c.£480m of gross premiums in the year to June 2014.



The transaction has enabled Prudential UK to realise its minority investment at attractive terms whilst providing full strategic flexibility to re-enter the UK protection market in due course.



Jackie Hunt, CEO of Prudential UK, Europe and Africa, commented: “Fenchurch made a very strong tactical, financial and commercial contribution to our team and helped us secure attractive terms for our investment in the JV. We were particularly impressed with the depth of their team and the level of senior engagement throughout the assignment.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised AXIS Capital (“AXIS”) on its recommended cash acquisition of Novae Group (“Novae”) for £478 million.

The acquisition combines a leading specialty Lloyd's franchise with a world-class international specialty (re)insurer, strengthening a broad, balanced and efficient global underwriting platform.

Albert Benchimol, President & CEO of AXIS, commented: “Fenchurch’s knowledge of the Lloyd’s sector and UK Takeover Code were critical contributions to our consummation of this transaction. We were well-served by the entire team which was highly engaged throughout the process.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised AXA on the sale of its UK P&C commercial broker Bluefin Insurance Group (“Bluefin”) to Marsh for £295m.
 
Bluefin is a leading insurance broker, providing services to private individuals, small businesses, and large corporates in the UK, with approximately 1,500 employees based in 45 locations. It also operates a broker network and a growing MGA business.
 
Marsh will combine Bluefin with Jelf to create one of the UK’s largest insurance brokers for mid-size and SME companies, serving over 250,000 clients in 80 locations across the UK.
 
Fenchurch also advised Jelf on its sale to Marsh in 2015.
 
Amanda Blanc, CEO of AXA UK commented “Fenchurch helped us develop a bespoke and confidential process which resulted in AXA securing excellent transaction terms through an accelerated timetable whilst minimising execution risk”.

Fenchurch was pleased to act as financial adviser to Jelf Group plc on the recommended all cash acquisition by Marsh. The 215 pence per share acquisition values Jelf’s aggregate equity share capital at £258m.

Jelf is a leading provider of insurance, healthcare and financial advisory services to the UK mid-market and SME sectors. Following its establishment in 1989, Jelf was admitted to trading on the AIM market in 2004. Capital Z became the company's largest shareholder through a secondary market transaction in 2010.

Since 2004, Jelf has delivered sustained growth in revenue from £8.5m to £82.6m in 2014. Growth has been achieved through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions. 
 


Joining the Marsh group will provide Jelf with the opportunity to accelerate the achievement of its strategic and financial objectives and will enable its shareholders to realise value today at an attractive multiple.