Europe's largest mutual life insurer Standard Life is set to list its shares in London in July after it said today that members would vote on its demutualisation proposal at the end of May.
Standard Life is expected to be valued at between £4 billion and £6 billion sterling in what would be one of Britain's biggest flotations of recent years.
Eligible members of the firm will receive a fixed allocation of shares and most will also a variable allocation of shares based on their policy in March 2004, taking into account the length and size of their policy.
Members are expected to get an average windfall of between £500 and £1,000 and should receive an indication of the amount on April 18. Standard Life said its 2.4 million eligible members will vote on the demutualisation proposal on May 31. If at least 75% of members who vote are in favour of the proposal it will seek court approval in June and list 'as soon as practicable' after that.
The insurer is expected to raise at least £1 billion to shore up its balance sheet as part of the flotation.
The Edinburgh-based society opted to float after a strategic review last year, making a U-turn after fighting off an attempt in 2000 by some members to force it to demutualise.
Last month, it reported 2005 sales of £1.24 billion, down 6% on the year. Its sales in Britain rose 3% last year, lagging the pace of growth of rivals such as Friends Provident and Prudential as it puts more emphasis on winning profitable business.
