Lloyds ponders £7bn sale of city's Scottish Widows

Published on Monday 25 April 2011 12:13

TAXPAYER-backed Lloyds Banking Group is considering a sale of its pensions and insurance business Scottish Widows.

The group's new chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, is poised to offload the Edinburgh-based subsidiary which employs just under 3500 staff.

Mr Horta-Osorio is expected to unveil the plans as part of his strategy to focus the business on its core banking services, which he will unveil to investors at the end of June.

Lloyds Banking Group declined to comment.

The group has also been ordered by the European Commission to sell off 600 branches and at least 4.6 per cent of the UK personal current account market and 19.2 per cent of its retail mortgage assets, as a condition of state aid it has received.

Scottish Widows' reported price tag would be between 5 billion and 7bn, while the banking group may also sell fund manager Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP).

The most likely buyer is UK insurance company Resolution Group, which owns Friends Provident and Bupa's health assurance division.