Aberdeen wins battle for SWIP as it confirms £650m deal

Aberdeen has beaten off competition from Macquarie to acquire Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) from Lloyds Banking Group in a deal worth up to £650m.

Aberdeen will issue Lloyds with 131.8m of its shares - worth around £550m at a reference price of 420p apiece - followed by a performance-related payment of up to £100m in cash over the next five years. The share issuance to Lloyds means the state-backed lender will take a 9.9% stake in Aberdeen. The two companies are to form a strategic partnership as part of the deal. The announcement sent Aberdeen shares 13% higher, to 482p apiece, at the start of trading this morning. Today's deal includes SWIP's private equity and infrastructure businesses, meaning Aberdeen's asset base will ...