Royal London confirms merger talks with LV= as chair Cook to step down

Offer to create 'well-capitalised mutual'

Royal London has confirmed it is in "exploratory" talks with rival mutual LV= about a merger and are submitting a second proposal at the end of 2021.

After members voted down the private equity takeover bid from Bain Capital on 10 December 2021, LV= said in a statement given to Professional Adviser that it had received an unsolicited preliminary merger proposal from Royal London. "The proposal, which is on a substantively different structure to the offer received during the process in 2020, now includes the possibility of continued mutuality and is conditional on exclusive discussions," the mutual said in December. LV= has revealed a number of changes to its board as chair Alan Cook steps down from his position. Last year, after th...