L&G Acquires Cofunds Platform

Sally Ling

27 March 2013

Legal & General has agreed to acquire the 75 per cent of Cofunds Holdings which it does not already own, for a cash consideration of £131 million (around $199 million). The transaction will be financed out of L&G’s existing cash resources; the acquisition, expected to complete in the first half of 2013, is subject to regulatory approval.

The firm says that Cofunds will retain its focus as a whole-of-market platform, serving both retail and institutional clients. It will remain a separate brand in the UK investment platform market.

“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,” Mark Gregory, chief executive of savings at L&G, said in a statement.

Cofunds is currently the UK’s largest investment platform for financial services. It has over £50 billion of assets under administration and a 22 per cent share of the UK investment platform market. Cofunds and L&G’s existing platform, Investor Portfolio Service, will form a new business unit within the firm’s savings division.