UK consultancy Jelf Group Plc (LON:JLF) said today it had conditionally agreed to take over local general insurance broker The Insurance Partnership Holdings Ltd (TIP) in a cash-and-stock deal.

Under the terms of the transaction, which is contingent on approval by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Jelf has agreed to pay up to £15.5m ($23.8m/€18.3m) for TIP, excluding a consideration for tangible net assets.

Jelf will initially pay £7.7m in cash to key vendors, £1.2m to TIP managing director Robert Worrell and vendor Ian Hakes and will also issue £3.1m worth of new shares to TIP’s key senior managers and key sales people. In addition, it has committed to pay earn-out of up to further £3.5m in cash to the key vendors, including Worrell, if TIP meets certain performance targets.

Worrell and Hakes will use the cash payable to them to buy Jelf shares in the market.

Concurrently with the transaction, TIP will shed its interest in The Insurance Partnership Financial Services Ltd.

The acquisition is seen to have a positive impact on earnings in the first full fiscal year following completion, which ends on 30 September 2014. Jelf said.

Through the takeover, Jelf will expand its geographic presence into Yorkshire and boost its position in the West Midlands. It will also see its gross written insurance premiums grow by £53m to £235m, the company said.

Dutch financial services group ING Groep NV (AMS:INGA) on Friday revealed an agreement to dispose of its 49% in South Korean insurance joint venture KB Life Insurance Company Ltd for KRW166.5bn (USD149.1m/EUR114.1m) in cash to JV partner KB Financial Group Inc (KRX:105560).

Pending regulatory approval, the deal is seen to wrap up in the second quarter of 2013 and to have no material effect on the group’s results, ING explained.

ING is selling this business as part of plans announced earlier to exit its insurance and investment management businesses. The Dutch group is in the process of selling the rest of these operations in Asia, including ING Life Korea and ING’s funds management business in Korea.

Set up in 2004, KB Life offers savings, annuities and protection products to individuals and families in South Korea.

UK financial group HSBC Holdings Plc (LON:HSBA) on Thursday said it had agreed to dispose of its general insurance operations in Macau to QBE Insurance (International) Limited.

HSBC will carry out the divestment via its indirectly-held unit HSBC Insurance (Asia) Limited, it explained.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed, but the vendor said the Macau general insurance business had gross assets of HKD6.97m (USD898,000/EUR687,000) at 31 December 2012.

Subject to regulatory clearance, the sale is expected to wrap up in the first half of this year, the vendor said.

HSBC Holdings’unit Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited has also inked a non-exclusive accord with QBE to distribute its general insurance products to the bank’s customers in Macau for a commission.

UK financial major HSBC Holdings plc (LON:HSBA) said Wednesday that fully-controlled unit HSBC Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd had inked an accord to sell its group term life insurance and group medical insurance portfolios in Singapore to AXA Life Insurance Singapore Private Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

The deal, which has yet to be cleared by regulators, is seen to be wrapped up by the end of the year.

The sale of the portfolios, whose gross asset value amounted to SGD23.5m (USD19m/EUR14.8m) as at 31 December 2012, is a step ahead in the implementation of the group’s strategy, HSBC said.

AXA Life Insurance Singapore is part of French insurance and asset management group AXA SA (EPA:CS).

UK insurance and investment management services group Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) on Tuesday said it would pay GBP131m (USD199.1m/EUR155m) to buy the 75% not yet owned in Cofunds Holdings Ltd, one of the country’s largest investment platforms for financial services.

The cash deal will provide Legal & General with scale and distribution in the investment platform sector which is seen to double in size by 2017, the buyer said.

Cofunds has GBP50bn of assets under administration (AUA) and a 22% share of the local investment platform market. Together with Investor Portfolio Service, it will form a new unit within Legal & General’s Savings segment.

The transaction, subject to regulatory clearance is seen completing in the first half of this year. The buyer said it would use its existing cash resources to cover the price.

UK group Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc (LON:ERM) said on Tuesday it had bought local insurance and reinsurance information and events business Insider Publishing Ltd for an initial sum of GBP16.8m (USD25.4m/EUR19.6m).

By doing so, the company is growing its insurance and reinsurance operation, it said, adding that the move is part of its strategy of investing in online subscription businesses which can make use of its global reach.

In addition, the acquired firm’s Insurance Insider online news service will complement Euromoney’s own insurance title Reactions.

The buyer has used its existing committed borrowing facility to fund the initial consideration. It may provide an additional sum in 2015 based on Insurance Insider’s profit growth. The transaction is anticipated to build on Euromoney’s earnings from fiscal year 2013.

The purchased business registered an unaudited pre-tax profit of GBP2.1m on revenues of GBP4.7m in 2012.

UK mutual life and pensions company The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited said today it had agreed to buy Co-operative Insurance Society Limited (CIS) and The Co-operative Asset Management Limited (TCAM) from domestic Co-operative Banking Group Limited for GBP219m (USD330.4m/EUR255.5m).

The purchase price includes a deferred consideration of GBP180m, depending on the fulfillment of certain conditions. The addition is seen to bolster the buyer’s funds under management to GBP70bn from GBP50bn, it said.

Under the terms of the deal, the vendor will preserve The CIS Long Term Business Fund, whereas Royal London will offer policy administration services, asset management services and governance to it under an agreed expense arrangement.

The deal hinges upon approval by Royal London’s members, who are due to meet by the middle of 2013, as well as upon regulatory approvals.

Car insurance companies now have only two criteria when it comes to offering their best premiums, age and experience.

With the ruling by the European Court of Justice that came into force on December 21 last year, women can no longer be offered discounted motor insurance premiums on the basis of their sex, despite the weight of statistical evidence tending to prove that on average they are less likely to make a claim than men. The net result of the sexual equality legislation is that women’s car insurance premiums have risen to come in line with men’s, and the only attributes that a driver can now brandish at their insurer in order to garner a healthy discount are a long, blemish-free driving history and the promise of a cautious and responsible nature, which is most likely to have come with age.

And the preferential treatment of older drivers is hardly surprising when looked at in terms of road accident statistics. In the UK only around 13 percent of driving licence holders are under the age of 25, and yet a third of drivers that are killed on the road come from that age group. Older motorists are only half as likely to have a crash as under 25’s, and when they are involved in accident, the cost is likely to be half of that incurred in a collision involving a younger driver.

Like any other prudent businesses, car insurance companies are looking to maximise their income and minimise their outgoings, and all of the indications are that leaning their client lists towards older and more experienced drivers will go a long way towards achieving that aim. This is good news for older drivers, particularly the over 50’s, as they have become THE target market for insurers, with many, like Staysure, offering considerable discounts to attract them into the fold.

The benefits of getting older are not always that obvious, but being the darling of car insurance companies is one to cling to.

UK lender Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (LON:RBS) has launched an accelerated bookbuilding process, looking to sell 229.4m common shares in the insurer Direct Line Insurance Group plc (LON:DLG).

RBS aims to dispose of the stake through a placement to institutional investors. The sale is being jointly run by Goldman Sachs International, Morgan Stanley Securities Limited and UBS AG (VTX:UBSN).

The base offer represents a 15.3% holding in Direct Line Insurance. If an over-allotment option is exercised, RBS will sell another 22.9m shares, trimming its stake in Direct Line Insurance to 48.5%. In case the sale is restricted to the base offer, RBS will be left with 749.9m shares, or 49.99% of the target.

RBS has agreed not to sell any other shares in Direct Line Group for 180 days after the current placing is completed unless such a move is approved by the joint bookrunners.

UK insurer Aviva plc (LON:AV) on Wednesday said it was disposing of its Russian life and pensions business to local non-state pension fund Blagosostoyanie for EUR35m (USD46m) in cash.

The deal is in line with Aviva’s plans to reduce its business and presence focus to the markets where it already has a top position, its chief executive Mark Wilson said in a comment.

According to Aviva, the price agreed with Blagosostoyanie is a slight premium to Aviva Russia’s IFRS book value.

Pending clearance from the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) regulator in Russia, the transaction is expected to wrap up in the first half of this year, the vendor said.