Lloyds Banking Group announced today that it intends to acquire wealth platform Embark for £390m ($543m).
The acquisition will see Lloyds acquire £35bn of assets on behalf of 410,000 consumer clients and is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2021. The transaction does not include the Rowanmoor SIPP and SASS administration business, which will be retained by existing shareholders.
Antonio Lorenzo, chief executive at Scottish Widows and group director of insurance and wealth with Lloyds Banking Group, said: “There’s an ever-growing customer demand for clear, simple and affordable financial planning and retirement products and services. Our acquisition of Embark will not only help us serve all of a customer’s financial needs in one place, but also sit alongside our existing partnerships.
“Through Embark’s technology, we will be able to increase the reach of our investment offerings for customers who are happy to manage their own portfolios, through modern, easy to use technology. We will also be able to enhance our intermediary proposition, strengthen our offering in Retirement and modernise the way Scottish Widows works with advisers.”
Founded in 2013, Embark has grown to become one of the UK’s largest retirement savings providers. Its services cover a wide range of areas, such as pension, platform, investment research and consulting, property investment administration, employee benefits and actuarial services. Embark is expected to enhance Lloyds’ capabilities to address the mass market and self-directed wealth segment. It will also enable Lloyds to re-platform its pensions and retirement proposition and strengthen its offering in the retirement market.
David Barral, chairman of Embark Group, commented: “In eight short years, Embark has built one of the most respected and fastest growing digital retirement and savings businesses in the UK. The combination of Lloyds Banking Group’s financial strength and distribution reach, with the agility, digital capability and expertise of Embark, will provide the perfect opportunity to create a market-leading proposition for consumers, intermediaries and strategic partners.”
