Discovery has outlined some of its plans for Standard Life Healthcare and its integration into the PruProtect and PruHealth camp.
According to Herschel Mayers, chief executive officer of Discovery Life and PruProtect, the approval process is with the FSA at the moment and the intention is that that would be obtained on the first of August.
He says: "The attributes of the two companies are complementary. We believe we will end up having a very powerful company offering healthcare and protection in the UK.
From a size perspective the market share would be about 10% to 11%, making us the third or fourth largest healthcare provider in the UK. This gives us a great platform for developing products and taking our core purpose to the next level."
Speaking to COVER, Dave Priestly, head of sales at PruHealth, notes that until that next phase there will remain key decisions about how integration will play out.
However, he adds: "the intention is that later on in the year we come to the market with a new proposition for our customers and brokers that combines strengths together into one then make that proposition available to new customers and existing customers as well.
Irrespective of the acquisition, it has always been PruHealth's and PruProtect's strategy to evolve Vitality. The integration of Standard life healthcare will give significantly increased scale across vitality.
"We've been talking to brokers over the last few weeks and reaction we've had has been very positive - brokers know both businesses well. If we can bring those two businesses together we can create a very formidable customer and broker proposition.
"I think one of key things to say is the impact on customers and brokers is at the forefront of our mind and as we manage that integration we want to do it in a way that ensures everyone is comfortable and supports needs and requirements of both businesses. Without a shadow of a doubt we're keen to grow the business and that will come though both in terms of integration and strategy."
From an organizational structure Discovery in South Africa will now own 75% of PruHealth, standard Life healthcare and pruProtect. The balance will be held by Prudential.
