Scottish Friendly has completed its acquisition of life and pensions policies from Canada Life.

The deal sees assets under management increase by £2.4bn to over £5bn, while the number of members increase by 127,000 to around 700,000.

Following a strategic review by Canada Life’s UK operations and a competitive tender process, the financial services provider has decided to transfer this significant book of life and pensions business to Scottish Friendly.

The mutual says it will ensure all transferring customer policies “will receive the highest standards of care during the transition period and beyond”.

Products transferring across as part of the transaction include endowments, whole of life policies, investment bonds, pensions and protection policies, mostly written before 2003.

Jim Galbraith, chief executive of Scottish Friendly, said: “This is a landmark acquisition for Scottish Friendly and helps to consolidate us as a leading mutual and a significant player in UK financial services.

“It forms part of our three-pronged strategy of organic growth, business process outsourcing for partners and mergers and consolidation, delivering the strongest possible growth and customer care for our members. We are delighted to have completed this process and welcome transferring Canada Life customers to Scottish Friendly.”

Richard Priestley, managing director and executive director, insurance division, Canada Life UK, added: “This is an excellent move for both organisations, for Scottish Friendly by increasing their scale and for Canada Life to concentrate its resources around its core business strategy.

“Our priority in this transfer was ensuring customers receive the highest standards of care both during this transition period, and beyond. Scottish Friendly has a great reputation in this area which gives us confidence that customers will be in good hands.”