Lloyds to acquire savings firm Embark Group in £390m deal
Lloyds Banking Group is set to acquire investment and retirement platform business the Embark Group in a deal worth £390 million.
The bank is aiming to be a “top three” bank for pensions
Lloyds says Embark will improve its ability to address the mass market and self-directed wealth sector.
The bank is also hoping to replatform its pensions and retirement services, and says it wants to create a “market leading” platform for intermediaries.
The move comes as Lloyds continues a strategy of broadening its products on the investment and wealth side.
Lloyds says it is targeting a “top-three position” in the individual pensions and retirement drawdown market by 2025.
It will see Lloyds acquire around £35 billion in assets under management held by more than 400,000 customers.
The transaction is expected to have a 30 basis points impact on the group’s CET1 capital and deliver a “mid-teens” return on invested capital “in the medium term”.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“There’s an ever-growing customer demand for clear, simple and affordable financial planning and retirement products and services,” says Antonio Lorenzo, group director for insurance and wealth at Lloyds.
“Our acquisition of Embark […] will sit alongside our existing partnerships which meet the more complex financial planning and investment requirements of mass-affluent and high net-worth customers.”
David Barral, chairman of the Embark Group, hails his firm’s ability to build a “respected” and fast-growing retirement and savings business in eight years.
He adds the combination of the two firms creates a “perfect opportunity” for the creation of a “market leading” service for consumers and intermediaries.
