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A&O Shearman advises Brookfield Wealth Solutions on its recommended GBP2.4 billion acquisition of Just Group plc

A&O Shearman advises Brookfield Wealth Solutions on its recommended GBP2.4 billion acquisition of Just Group plc
Published Date
Jul 31 2025

A&O Shearman is pleased to announce that it is advising Brookfield Wealth Solutions on its recommended GBP2.4bn takeover of Just Group plc, the UK-based retirement specialist financial services company and a leader in defined benefit de-risking and individual retirement income markets.

Brookfield Wealth Solutions has been strategically focused on the UK market, and recently announced the launch of its UK insurance operations through its wholly owned subsidiary, Blumont. The acquisition represents an exciting strategic opportunity for Blumont to combine with Just in order to create a leader in the UK annuity and life insurance space.

The A&O Shearman team is led by London-based M&A partners Seth Jones and Matt Hamilton-Foyn and insurance partners Philip Jarvis and Kate McInerney. The team includes senior associates James Funder, Gina Malone and associates Daniel Senior, Charles Ashie, Sarah Jones, Victoria King and Hadley-Rose Roberts.

Partner Neil Sinha and senior associate Fraser Jackson are advising on the financing of the transaction. Partner Paul McCarthy and senior associate Tom Leatherby are advising on share award aspects and partner Lydia Challen is advising on tax aspects. Partner Dominic Long and counsel Jessica Bowring are advising on competition aspects.

“We are delighted to be supporting Brookfield Wealth Solutions on this important strategic transaction, which accelerates BWS’s growth ambitions in the U.K., one of its core markets. Our team combines deep expertise in the insurance sector with a market-leading public M&A practice.”

A&O Shearman’s insurance capabilities span life and non-life markets; direct and reinsurance businesses. The firm acts as a strategic advisor to many of the world's largest insurers and reinsurers, insurance intermediaries, insurtechs and investors in the insurance sector.

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