Green light for Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management to join forces
The £11bn tie-up between two of Scotland's financial giants will lead to 800 job losses.
Last updated 22nd Jun 2017
One of the biggest deals Edinburgh's finance sector has ever seen has been given the green light.
The merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management has been given the go-ahead by the competition watchdog.
The Competition and Markets Authority says it won't be carrying out a more detailed 'Phase 2' investigation into the tie-up.
This paves the way for the deal to be completed in August.
On Monday, shareholders overwhelmingly backed the deal, with more than 95% of investors at Aberdeen and 98% at Standard Life voting in favour.
The enlarged company, to be called Standard Life Aberdeen, will be headed up by Keith Skeoch and Aberdeen boss Martin Gilbert.
The merger will create Europe's second-biggest fund manager, with £670 billion under management.
The deal, announced in March, is targeting cost savings of £200 million a year, with around 800 jobs expected to be lost over a three-year period from a global workforce of 9,000