The completed deal increases Scottish Friendly’s number of members by 127,000 to around 700,000.

Canada Life decided to transfer the book of life and pensions business to Scottish Friendly following a strategic review of its UK operations and a competitive tender process.

The mutual 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.

Scottish Friendly has a long and well-established history of acquiring large books of insurance business, most recently a section of business from Mobius Life in 2018, as part of its continued strategy to diversify and grow.

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, MD and executive director in the insurance division at Canada Life, said: “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.”