Sun Life & Provincial Holdings

Sun Life & Provincial Holdings plc was a large British insurance company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by French insurance company Axa Group in 1996.

Not to be confused with Sun Life Financial.

Sun Life & Provincial Holdings

Former type	Public
Industry	Insurance
Fate	Acquired
Successor	Axa Group
Founded	1995 (1995)
Defunct	2000 (2000)
Headquarters	London, UK
Key people	Lord Douro, (Chairman)

History

The company was established in 1995 as a holding company for the Sun Life Assurance Society and the Provincial Insurance Company in both of which Union des Assurances de Paris (UAP) of France had acquired substantial holdings.[1]

Sun Life Assurance Society

The Sun Life Assurance Society was a life insurance offshoot, founded in 1810, of the Sun Fire Office.[2] The Head Office moved to Bristol in 1976.[3] UAP acquired 50% of the Sun Life Assurance Society in 1992.[4]

Provincial Insurance Company

The Provincial Insurance Company was founded by Francis Clayton Scott in Kendal in 1903.[5] UAP acquired the Provincial Insurance Company for £300m in 1994.[4]

Axa increases its shareholding

In 1997 Axa, who had acquired UAP in 1996, transferred its Equity & Law business into the company thereby increasing its holding in the company from 60% to 72%.[6] Then in May 2000 Axa acquired all shares it did not already own in the Company.[7]

References

1. Business.com
2. National Archives
3. Sun Life by Colin Marriner
4. UAP buys Provincial Insurance for £300m The Independent, 30 September 1994
5. Mrs JF Trevelyan: Obituary Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine The Westmoreland Gazette, 7 November 2008
6. Sun Life to buy Axa for £690m The Independent, 3 July 1997
7. Sun Life Stock soars as Axa ups bid to £24bn for remaining stake Independent, 3 May 2000

Further reading

• Minnitt, Jack The Sun Life Story 1810-1985, Published 1985
• Westall, Oliver Provincial Insurance Company 1903-1938