Schroders, Lloyds Banking Group plan new business
Talks about one of the largest wealth management mergers in recent years are underway.
Global asset manager Schroders and the UK’s largest high street bank Lloyds Banking Group are weighing a combination of their wealth management expertise.
The talks, reported by Sky News over the weekend and since confirmed by Schroders, focus on a new joint venture in which Lloyds would own 50.1% and Schroders owning 49.9%.
The JV would harness the expertise of Schroders – whose clients are said to include The Queen – with the wide coverage of Lloyds, to bring their wealth management operations to the mass affluent.
The two firms are also expected to announce that Schroders will be granted the £109 billion investment management contract for Lloyd’s Scottish Widows unit. This would mean Schroders beating BlackRock to the contract.
High net worth business also involved
In a third part to the talks, Lloyds is reportedly going to take a 19.9% stake in Cazenove Capital, Schroder’s portfolio management unit for high net worth individuals.
Overall, the deal is said to be worth £500 million with the Lloyds wealth management and Cazenove stake each valued at around £250 million.
