800 roles could go in Standard Life-Aberdeen merger

Keith Skeoch, left, and Martin Gilbert, co-CEOs of Standard Life Aberdeen

Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management expect to cut their combined workforce by up to 800 roles — nearly 9% of the companies’ combined payroll — within three years of their proposed merger, Standard Life said late on Tuesday.

Shareholders of the firms will vote on the merger on June 19.

The merged firm will be called Standard Life Aberdeen.

The merger prospectus reads: “Standard Life and Aberdeen expect to achieve cost synergies where duplication exists and by taking advantage of opportunities to leverage the additional scale of the combined group.

“At this time it is estimated that the integration and restructuring will result in a phased reduction of approximately 800 roles from the total global headcount of the combined group as at 31 December 2016 of approximately 9,000 over the three-year integration period.

“Synergies will come in part from employee departures arising from natural turnover.

“Other appropriate steps will be taken to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies, including the active management of Standard Life’s and Aberdeen’s recruitment and vacancies.”

Standard Life also gave a trading update, saying it has made further progress in the first three months of 2017, with net investment inflows of £3.1 billion excluding its Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS), which saw outflows of £2.8 billion, Reuters reported.

Standard Life CEO Keith Skeoch said: “We have made further progress in the first three months of 2017 with inflows from our growth channels, including notable growth in flows in our pensions and savings business.

“This has been supported by strong investment performance over the short and long-term.

“We continue to benefit from diversifying our sources of assets, and this strategy will be further enhanced by our proposed merger with Aberdeen.

“Standard Life remains confident about capitalising on industry trends, to meet the evolving needs of our clients and customers and to create long-term value for Standard Life Shareholders.”