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DEALMAKERS By Ged Henderson


Real funding. Real deals.


Real decisions. Growing a business, planning an acquisition, or exploring investment? This is where you’ll learn how funding really works.


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ACQUISITIONS REMAIN THE BEST POLICY


Preston headquartered life, pensions and investment company Chesnara remains on the acquisition trail after a ‘transformative’ year of growth.


Chesnara has had a productive 12 months when it comes to dealmaking and 2025 was also the year that it took its place in the prestigious FTSE 250 list of mid cap companies.


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Earlier this year the group was named in another list – Lancashire Business View’s Big 20 ranking of the county’s larger companies by sales and profit.


Chesnara’s hunger for acquisitions shows no signs of slowing. And at a time when many Lancashire based companies are being sold to overseas investors, Chesnara has had a firm focus on European expansion from its Winckley Square base in Preston’s business district.


Outside the UK, Chesnara has businesses in Sweden and the Netherlands and is about to make a strategic entrance into Luxembourg.


Its business model centres on identifying and delivering “value enhancing acquisitions” which can be efficiently integrated into the group to grow future cash generation.


Formed through the demerger of Countrywide Assured from the Countrywide estate agency group in 2004, today Chesnara looks after more than 1.4 million customers and to date has successfully completed 16 deals.


They include the 2024 acquisition of Canada Life UK’s onshore bonds and legacy pensions business, which had total assets under management of £1.5bn at the time.


In January this year, Chesnara completed its purchase of HSBC Life UK, now rebranded as Chesnara Life. The following month it announced a second separate deal to buy Scottish Widows Europe.


These two latest deals are set to significantly increase the group’s scale and longer-term operating capital generation potential.


The HSBC Life acquisition, funded through a combination of internal resources and a fully underwritten £140m equity raise, with a total consideration of £247m, was the largest in the history of the business.


The numbers behind the deal with the banking giant are impressive. It is expected to add £5bn of assets under administration and deliver £140m of cash generation over the first five years, transforming Chesnara’s scale in the UK.


“These deals are expected to significantly increase the group’s scale and longer-term operating capital generation potential and we continue to see further opportunities to grow.”


And he added: “Looking into 2026 and beyond, we continue to see a very healthy pipeline of acquisition opportunities and remain positive about the outlook for further M&A. Our disciplined approach and strong capital position mean we are well placed to execute value-accretive transactions.”


Chesnara’s full-year 2025 results show a 42 per cent surge in adjusted operating profit to £56m, from £39m in 2024. Its assets under administration reached £15bn, up 10 per cent year on year.


The group, which employs around 600 people in the UK and Europe, moved into its new head office


The two latest deals are set to significantly


increase the group’s scale and longer-term operating capital generation potential


Meanwhile, the proposed €110m (£95m) acquisition of Scottish Widows Europe is expected to add €250m (£218m) cash generation.


Chesnara says the Scottish Widows deal, which is set for completion at the end of 2026, is part of its continuing M&A momentum, creating a foothold for the business in Luxembourg, with an eye firmly on future European consolidation.


Announcing the group’s annual figures in March, chief executive Steve Murray explained:


in the centre of Preston at the start of this year from its previous base near the city’s docklands.


Speaking to Lancashire Business View, Steve Murray explains the group’s acquisition strategy. He says: “We look at large institutions to see if there is a business in there that doesn’t look like it is strategically core to them.


“We have done deals with some of the largest financial services firms in the world and we are proud that they trust us with


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