Regulators in the UK have given the green light to the proposed £11 billion (€12.3 billion) merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management.
Both the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority yesterday gave their blessing for the tie-up to proceed.
The decision follows last month’s announcement by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority that it would clear the merger, which is expected to create Europe’s second largest fund management group with some £670 billion of assets.
Shareholders of both groups approved the tie-up earlier this summer.
The enlarged company, to be called Standard Life Aberdeen, will be jointly run by Standard Life’s current chief executive Keith Skeoch and his counterpart at Aberdeen Asset Management, Martin Gilbert.
The merger, announced in March, is expected to lead to cost savings of £200 million a year. Around 800 jobs, from a current combined global workforce of 9,000, will likely be cut.
In a joint statement, the two firms said: “The transaction remains subject to certain regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions and to final approval at a court hearing scheduled for 11 August 2017.”
The merger is expected to complete on 14 August.
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