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.
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 Sir James Scott in Manchester in 1903.[5] The company moved its head office to Kendal in 1918. 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]
Further reading
- Minnitt, Jack The Sun Life Story 1810-1985, Published 1985
- Westall, Oliver Provincial Insurance Company 1903-1938
References
- Sun Life & Provincial Holdings Business.com^
- Sun Life Office National Archives, retrieved 28 November 2025^
- Sun Life Colin Marriner, retrieved 28 November 2025^
- UAP buys Provincial Insurance for £300m The Independent, 30 September 1994^
- Mrs JF Trevelyan: Obituary The Westmoreland Gazette, 7 November 2008^
- Sun Life to buy Axa for £690m The Independent, 3 July 1997^
- Sun Life Stock soars as Axa ups bid to £24bn for remaining stake Independent, 3 May 2000^