Standard Life shares tumble as Aberdeen slashes stake

On Thursday, Standard Life shares experienced a significant drop as Aberdeen announced plans to sell half of its remaining stake in the company. This move, which comes a decade after the merger between the two investment firms, was met with sharp declines in Standard Life's stock price. The deal is set to reduce Aberdeen's stake to around 5.2 per cent, valued at £8.39 per share, and generate £436m through a secondary placing.

Standard Life's shares fell 4.9 per cent to 828p in response to the news, while Aberdeen's shares rose 0.6 per cent to 236p.

Aberdeen's shareholders will utilize the funds raised from the sale in line with their existing cash allocation policy. This includes maintaining a robust balance sheet, selectively investing in the business to foster sustainable, profitable growth, reducing and optimizing debt over time, and delivering consistent returns to shareholders. Evercore Partners is serving as the lead financial advisor, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Cazenove appointed as joint global coordinators.

The merger between Aberdeen and Standard Life, which took place in 2017 for a valuation of £11bn, has since been reversed. Aberdeen purchased Standard Life's business for £3.2bn a year later, before rebranding as Standard Life in March 2026. Analysts attribute Aberdeen's recent resurgence to its acquisition of Interactive Investor, which has helped the company regain its position in the FTSE 100, previously experiencing a mid-market slump.

Since its integration, Interactive Investor has seen steady inflows and has reached numerous record highs. The platform generated net inflows of £6.8bn in the first half of the year and increased its customer base by 14 per cent to 525,000.