Barclays sells life unit to Swiss Re

Wed 6 Aug 2008
LONDON (ShareCast) - Barclays Bank (NYSE: BCS-P) has agreed to sell Barclays Life Assurance Company Limited to Swiss Re for approximately £753m in cash.

The group said post-tax gain on the sale is expected to be approximately £330m. Excluding the gain on sale, the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on the group's earnings per share.

Barclays (LSE: BARC.L) said it will continue to sell life insurance products from a selection of third party providers.

"Barclays Life is an attractive, high quality business which is not core to Barclays. We are delighted to agree a sale to Swiss Re which is an experienced and reputable partner. We are confident that Swiss Re, with its expertise in this area, will offer policyholders continuity of service and support," said Barclays finance director Chris Lucas.

Barclays Life is the combined life assurance business of Barclays and Woolwich in the UK. It ceased to accept new customer applications in 2001 but manages approximately £6.8bn in respect of around 760,000 policies, which will transfer with the sale.

Source: http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/080805/214/i4czy.html