Linklaters has advised long-term savings and retirement business Phoenix Group on its £248m acquisition of SLF of Canada UK (Sun Life UK), a UK closed book life insurance company, from Sun Life Financial Inc. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in Q1 2023.

Sun Life UK represents c.£10bn of the estimated £480bn UK Heritage M&A market, and this transaction represents Phoenix Group’s first acquisition to be financed solely from existing cash resources, reflecting the surplus cash and capital available for reinvestment into growth. This acquisition is expected to deliver c.£470 million of incremental long-term cash generation for Phoenix Group, with approximately 30% of this cash generation to emerge in the first three years.

The Linklaters team was led by corporate partners Dan Schuster-Woldan and Lorna Tennent, together with corporate associate Cameron Western. Lynne Walkington advised on tax matters, and counsel Richard Cole advised on investment management matters. Partner Cara Hegarty and counsel Julie Sharp advised on employment and incentives matters and partner Sarah Parkin and counsel Alasdair Smith advised on pensions matters. On IP matters partner Ian Karet advised and counsel So Yeon Um advised on TMT matters.

This M&A mandate for Phoenix Group continues Linklaters’ excellent track record of advising on high profile M&A transactions within the insurance sector.