Aegon 'poised to sell insurer unit'

Aegon is set to sell its Guardian life insurance arm for £250m, according to the Sunday Times.

The assurance business, which has a portfolio of life assurance policies totalling £300m, is being eyed by private equity groups Cinven, Apollo Global Management and reinsurer Swiss Re. The deal, which will take place within the next few weeks under the management of Goldman Sachs, is expected to pay Aegon 70% of the insurer's book value, the paper reports. The 180-year old Guardian Assurance and Guardian Pension Management were acquired by Aegon in 1999 to be part of Trustee Solutions, its consultancy and insurance arm which also owns Scottish Equitable plc.