Aegon offloads 200-year-old UK business to Standard Life for £2bn

Deal will create pensions and savings group with 16m customers and £480bn of assets, while Aegon focuses on US

The Dutch financial services group Aegon has struck a £2bn deal to sell off its almost 200-year-old UK arm to Standard Life, as part of a US push in which the group will be rebranded as Transamerica.

Standard Life, previously known as Phoenix Group, said the deal to buy Aegon UK will create a pensions and savings group with 16 million customers and £480bn of assets under administration.