Rothesay Life has signed an agreement to acquire £6bn worth annuity portfolio from Scottish Equitable, the UK subsidiary of Aegon.

Initially, the deal has been structured as a reinsurance contract, and is expected to lead to a part VII transfer of the underlying assets and liabilities to Rothesay Life subject to regulatory and court approval.

The current deal is Rothesay Life’s third transaction to reinsure an in-force portfolio in the last one year, including £1.2bn reinsured UK annuities portfolio from Zurich.

The deal adds around 187,000 policyholders to Aegon, and they will continue to be serviced by the company until the effective date of a Part VII Transfer.

Rothesay Life founder and chief executive Addy Loudiadis said: "As a specialist provider of annuities, I am delighted that Aegon has chosen Rothesay Life to secure its policyholders’ pensions over the long term.

"This transaction represents a significant step for Rothesay Life taking total assets under management to over £20bn and total lives insured to over 400,000."

Rothesay Life provides de-risking solutions to UK defined benefit pension schemes and other insurance companies. The firm makes payments of around £900m per annum from £20bn of insurance contracts.

Its clients comprise of Zurich UK Life and the pension schemes and members associated with such names as RSA, British Airways, Rank, Uniq, General Motors, the Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund (MNOPF), InterContinental Hotels, Philips, CAA and GKN.