Sun Life & Provincial Holdings

Sun Life & Provincial Holdings plc was a large British insurance company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by French insurance company Axa Group in 1996.

Not to be confused with Sun Life Financial.

Sun Life & Provincial Holdings
TypePublic
IndustryInsurance
Founded1995 (1995)
Defunct2000 (2000)
FateAcquired
SuccessorAxa Group
HeadquartersLondon, UK
Key people
Lord Douro, (Chairman)

History

The company was established in 1995 as a holding company for the Sun Life Assurance Society and the Provincial Insurance Company in both of which Union des Assurances de Paris (UAP) of France had acquired substantial holdings.[1]

Sun Life Assurance Society

The Sun Life Assurance Society was a life insurance offshoot, founded in 1810, of the Sun Fire Office.[2] The Head Office moved to Bristol in 1976.[3] UAP acquired 50% of the Sun Life Assurance Society in 1992.[4]

Provincial Insurance Company

The Provincial Insurance Company was founded by Sir James Scott in Manchester in 1903.[5] The company moved its head office to Kendal in 1918. UAP acquired the Provincial Insurance Company for £300m in 1994.[4]

Axa increases its shareholding

In 1997 Axa, who had acquired UAP in 1996, transferred its Equity & Law business into the company thereby increasing its holding in the company from 60% to 72%.[6] Then in May 2000 Axa acquired all shares it did not already own in the Company.[7]

References
  1. Business.com
  2. National Archives
  3. Sun Life by Colin Marriner
  4. UAP buys Provincial Insurance for £300m The Independent, 30 September 1994
  5. Mrs JF Trevelyan: Obituary Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine The Westmoreland Gazette, 7 November 2008
  6. Sun Life to buy Axa for £690m The Independent, 3 July 1997
  7. Sun Life Stock soars as Axa ups bid to £24bn for remaining stake Archived 2009-05-26 at the Wayback Machine Independent, 3 May 2000

Further reading
  • Minnitt, Jack The Sun Life Story 1810-1985, Published 1985
  • Westall, Oliver Provincial Insurance Company 1903-1938


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