Athora Holding Limited has agreed to pay around £5.7 billion to purchase Pension Insurance Corporation Group Limited (PICG), which is the parent company of Pension Insurance Corporation plc (PIC).
Athora will now own PIC as its UK insurance company. For the first time in 20 years, the specialised insurance will have one owner who is in charge of its strategy. PIC will preserve its name and continues working in the UK defined benefit pension industry.
Both companies indicated that the transaction will enable PIC grow and conduct more pension risk transfer deals while continuing investing in UK assets with longer terms.
Tracy Blackwell, the CEO of PIC, stated that the deal will help the company develop over time.
“With Athora backing us through our next phase of growth as their UK insurance business, we will be able to provide more options to the trustees of defined benefit pension risk transfer schemes and invest more in UK housing and infrastructure,” Blackwell said.
Athora is an insurance firm based in Europe that conducts business in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. It wants €76 billion in assets for 2.8 million policyholders. Athora is backed by long-term institutional investors including Apollo Global Management, Athene Holding Limited, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
After the transaction, the two organisations will have more than €130 billion in assets and serve more than three million people. Athora’s total assets under management and administration are expected to be 45% of PIC, making it the group’s largest and fastest-growing company.
PIC is responsible for £50.9 billion in assets that pay for the pensions of over 400,000 individuals. It has injected £30 billion into the UK, with £13.8 billion going to housing and infrastructure to pay off its long-term obligations. The corporation has already paid out more than £16 billion in pensions.
The government still has to ratify the contract, and it should be done by the beginning of 2026.