Life assurance and pension funds consolidator Chesnara Plc (LON:CSN) confirmed that the proposed acquisition of Legal & General Nederland has completed.
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"Chesnara is delighted to have acquired another well-run and attractive business in the Dutch life assurance market and I am delighted to welcome the customers and employees of Legal & General Nederland to Chesnara,” said John Deane, chief executive of Chesnara.
“As with our Swedish subsidiary Movestic, we will be writing protection and pension new business and this will complement our closed book consolidation business Waard. We see great opportunities for both organisations within the Chesnara group to deliver value to our customers, their advisors and our shareholders," Deane said.
The acquisition increases Chesnara's presence in the Netherlands. Speaking to Proactive Investors recently, Deane said the new acquisition would "write new business profitably" in the Netherlands, while its Waard arm would do the thing Chesnara is probably best known for, which is buying up closed-end funds.
"As in other countries in Europe, with a rapidly ageing population, the Dutch are waking up to the need to save for retirement. There is a recognition of a greater need to save, though we prefer to think of it not as saving but as deferring consumption," Deane said.
Deane said the company takes a long-term view with its acquisitions. Its 2009 acquisition of Movestic raised a few eyebrows at the time but the company declared its inaugural dividend of £2.7mln in 2016, which will boost Chesnara's coffers and strengthen its ability to sustain a dividend payment that is probably the main appeal of the shares.