Swiss Re buys Barclays life insurance arm for £753m

Barclays Life manages approximately £6.8bn in assets for 760,000 policyholders, primarily in unit-linked life and pensions policies. The bank says it expects to make a £330m profit on the sale, which is not expected to have a material impact on its earnings per share. Swiss Re has been attempting to expand in the UK in recent years, and lost the battle to carve up Resolution Group's assets after its joint bid for the company with Standard Life was trumped by a near £5bn offer from Pearl Group in January. The reinsurer was also said to be among a pack of insurance giants circling Equitable...