The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has entered an agreement to acquire up to 21.4% of the shares of Pension Insurance Corporation Group, the parent company of Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), from funds advised by private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co.
PIC is a specialist insurer and provider of bulk annuities to UK corporate pension schemes, controlling more than £25 billion in financial assets and supporting the benefits of more than 150,000 individuals.
ADIA’s acquisition was led by its Private Equities Department (PED), and is in line with the company’s focus on its core sectors of financial services, healthcare, industrials, technology, and consumer products.
Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, Executive Director of the PED at ADIA, said: “This investment is a further demonstration of our ongoing strategy to seek out principal investments in market-leading businesses with strong management teams.
“PIC has proven its ability to respond to the growing trend for UK companies to de-risk their defined benefit pension obligations and, as such, has strengthened its position as the industry’s leading pension insurance provider.”
Tracy Blackwell, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at PIC, said: “We are delighted to welcome ADIA to our small group of committed shareholders with financial services expertise and long-term investment horizons. We are confident that, together, they will continue to build on the valuable support provided by J.C. Flowers over the past 12 years, and ensure that PIC is ideally placed to meet the increased demand from pension fund trustees.
Tim Hanford, Managing Director in charge of J.C. Flowers Europe, said: “As a founding investor in PIC, we have supported the company on its path to becoming a leader in the growing UK bulk annuity sector. We are delighted to see them starting a new partnership with ADIA and are very confident that the company will continue on its successful journey with this new support.”
Established in 1976, ADIA is a globally-diversified investment institution that invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi with a focus on long-term value creation.
