Blackstone Reportedly In Talks To Buy Minority Stake In Goldman Sachs' Rothesay

(RTTNews) - Private equity giant Blackstone Group LP (BX), is in talks to buy a minority stake in Goldman Sachs'(GS) UK pensions insurance operation, Rothesay Life, valued at up to 950 million pounds, according to media reports. People familiar with the matter said that the talks of the deal are being led by the $3 billion 'tactical opportunities' fund of Blackstone.

Goldman last week reportedly said that it was planning to sell a majority holding in Rothesay, citing higher capital requirement. The deal process does not involve a formal auction, and bankers estimate is valued at between 750 million pounds and 950 million pounds.

Rothesay was set up in 2007 by Goldman Sachs, and the unit struck deals with pension schemes at various companies. With the acquisition of Paternoster in 2011, the unit had more than 3 billion pounds in assets, but closed to new business in a 260 million pounds deal after a financial crisis. Rothesay is assumed to have pensions liabilities of almost 10 billion pounds. Rothesay Life Ltd., a London-based insurer run by Goldman Sachs partner Addy Loudiadis, had $9.66 billion in assets as of June 30.