London based private equity firm Cinven is planning to launch its Partnership annuity business, although the firm has not revealed the name of the new underwriting entity.
Sources close to the matter told Financial Times that the private equity group is also seeking entry of its new business into the FTSE 250 index.
With an estimated market capitalization of approximately £1bn, flotation of the new annuity arm is likely to take place in the second half of next year.
The company wrote £892m worth of premiums, before reinsurance costs, in 2011, which is 52% higher than a year earlier.
The firm expects that in the longer term, it would be able to capitalize on the UK’s ageing population and on the decline in corporate defined-benefit pension schemes.
Cinven acquired Guardian life insurance for £275m in August 2011 and expects to use Guardian as a platform for further consolidation of life businesses that are no longer writing new policies.