(Bloomberg) — Phoenix Group Holdings Chief Executive Officer Clive Bannister said he's ready to do deals and would be interested in Abbey Life if Deutsche Bank AG puts the U.K. insurance business up for sale.
Bannister, who has spent the last four years cleaning up Phoenix's balance sheet, said he has not yet spoken with Germany's largest bank about a possible deal.
"I don't know what their plans are but when they do become clear, of course we would be interested in talking with them," Bannister said in a telephone interview. Phoenix has the funding capacity "to entertain large deals."
Deutsche Bank is waiting to hear from the European Central Bank on how much capital lenders will be forced to hold against their insurance assets before it decides whether to sell Abbey Life, people familiar with the discussions said this month. The unit, which helps pension funds to protect against its members living longer than expected, could fetch as much as 3 million pounds ($4.6 billion), one person said.
