Lloyds Banking Group to acquire investment platform Embark Group

By Megha Bhattacharya

Lloyds Banking Group announced that it intends to acquire the Embark Group (Embark), an investment and retirement platform business. Embark enhances the Group’s capabilities to address the attractive mass market and self-directed Wealth segment, completing its Wealth proposition. Embark will also enable the Group to re-platform its pensions and retirement proposition, delivering a market-leading platform for intermediaries and significantly strengthening its offering in Retirement, an important growth market.

Antonio Lorenzo, Chief Executive, Scottish Widows and Group Director, Insurance & Wealth, Lloyds Banking Group said: “There’s an ever-growing customer demand for clear, simple and affordable financial planning and retirement products and services. Our acquisition of Embark will not only help us serve all of a customer’s financial needs in one place, but also sit alongside our existing partnerships which meet the more complex financial planning and investment requirements of mass-affluent and high net-worth customers through Schroders Personal Wealth and Cazenove Capital.

“Through Embark’s technology, we will be able to increase the reach of our investment offerings for customers who are happy to manage their own portfolios, through modern, easy to use technology. We will also be able to enhance our intermediary proposition, strengthen our offering in Retirement and modernise the way Scottish Widows works with advisers, recognising the continued value of advice.”

A consideration of c.£390 million will be paid for the entire share capital of Embark upon completion. The transaction is expected to have a c.30 basis points impact on Group CET1 capital and deliver a mid-teens return on invested capital in the medium term, both including all integration and restructuring costs. Subject to regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2021.

David Barral, Chairman of Embark Group commented: “In eight short years, Embark has built one of the most respected and fastest growing digital retirement and savings businesses in the UK. The combination of Lloyds Banking Group’s financial strength and distribution reach, with the agility, digital capability and expertise of Embark, will provide the perfect opportunity to create a market-leading proposition for consumers, intermediaries and strategic partners.”