Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset complete £11bn merger

The £11bn merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management has completed, creating Europe's second-biggest fund manager.

A Stock Exchange announcement confirmed the deal's conclusion, following court approval for the merger last week.

The enlarged company, which will trade as Standard Life Aberdeen, will hold £670bn under management.

Co-chief executive Keith Skeoch described the move as the "beginning of a new chapter" in the firms' history.

Mr Skeoch said: "Our leadership team is in place and we have full business readiness from day one."

The merger, which was agreed in March, is targeting cost savings of £200m a year, with about 800 jobs expected to be lost over three years from a global workforce of 9,000.

The new company will be jointly led by Mr Skeoch and Aberdeen boss Martin Gilbert.

Mr Gilbert said: "As ever our priority remains the delivery of strong investment performance and the highest level of client service.

"The merger deepens and broadens our investment capabilities and gives us a stronger and more diverse range of investment management skills as well as significant scale across asset classes and geographies."

Overall, Standard Life Aberdeen will have offices in 50 cities around the world, servicing clients in 80 countries.