LONDON: Athora Holding Ltd., a pan-European savings and retirement services provider, announced Thursday it will acquire Pension Insurance Corporation Group Ltd. (PICG), the parent company of Pension Insurance Corporation plc (PIC), for approximately £5.7 billion.
According to a statement, the transaction marks a significant shift for PIC, which will, for the first time in its 20-year history, be owned by a single strategic shareholder. PIC will become Athora’s UK insurance business and continue operating under the PIC brand, known for its penguin logo.
PIC specializes in insuring defined benefit pension schemes and currently manages £50.9 billion in assets supporting the pensions of 400,000 policyholders. Of that total, £30 billion is invested in the UK, including £13.8 billion in housing and infrastructure designed to provide long-term, inflation-linked cashflows.
The company has paid more than £16 billion in pensions with a reported 99 percent customer satisfaction rate.
Athora, which operates in the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Germany, will expand its footprint with the addition of PIC. Upon completion, the combined group will manage more than €130 billion in assets for over three million savers and retirees. PIC is expected to account for 45 percent of Athora’s total assets under management, making it the largest and fastest-growing segment of the group.
“This acquisition is the strongest possible recognition of the value and importance of the pension risk transfer market, the sector that PIC helped create and continues to lead,” PIC CEO Tracy Blackwell said. “With Athora backing us, we can provide better pricing and invest more in UK housing and infrastructure.”
Athora is supported by permanent capital owners including Apollo Global Management, Athene Holding Ltd., and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in early 2026. PICG shareholders include Reinet Fund S.C.A., F.I.S., a wholly owned subsidiary of ADIA, CVC Capital Partners, HPS Investment Partners, employees, and other minority stakeholders.