27 January 2015

Legal & General Group Plc (L&G) today announces a new regeneration vehicle to provide investment into UK regeneration projects including housing and infrastructure.

The announcement is being made at a Downing Street Investment in Cities event bringing together three UK cities (Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds) with major UK and international institutional investors, hosted by Cities Minister Greg Clark.

L&G is allocating £1.5bn to the vehicle, and working alongside investment partners plans to secure further external funding up to £15bn. 

The fund will invest across the UK - not just in the three cities showcased today - in both equity and debt.  It will take construction risk and invest in different sectors and projects: a fund of that size could be involved in circa 30 to 50 projects.

The fund has been set up as a co-investment vehicle, with L&G acting as both principal investor and manager. External investors' economic and reputational interests are therefore closely aligned with L&G's, and with L&G as the investment manager external investors have access to local knowledge and expertise through a partner they know, trust and respect.  This is the industrialisation and scaling of a model L&G is already successfully deploying for specific projects including Salford, Canning Town, Plymouth, Bracknell and London.

The fund will further benefit from co-operation and collaboration with RIO - the government's Regeneration Investment Organisation - acting as sponsor to help facilitate a deal pipeline, and work with central and local government on infrastructure projects.

Legal and General Group Chief Executive, Nigel Wilson, said:

"The UK is a terrific place to invest. We are well-positioned to work alongside UK and international money to channel funds into regeneration that delivers growth, homes and jobs."

Minister for Cities Greg Clark added: 

"L&G's decision to launch a £15 billion regeneration vehicle and invest £1.5 billion is fantastic news and a vote of confidence in the UK economy and our regional cities."

Notes to editors LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC:

Established in 1836, Legal & General is a leading provider of insurance, savings and investment management products in the UK. The Group has a market capitalisation of £15.4bn (as at 21st January 2015) and is responsible for investing £676bn worldwide (as at 30th September 2014) on behalf of investors, policyholders and shareholders. We have over seven million customers in the UK for life assurance, pensions, investments and general insurance plans and over one million customers in the US who rely on us for life assurance. In 2013, Legal & General's profits before tax (on the IFRS basis) were £1,134m and earnings per share were 15.20p for the period, an increase of 10% for both respectively.

Forward looking statements

Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast. This document may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to Legal & General Group, its plans and its current goals and expectations relating to future financial condition, performance and results. By their nature forward-looking statements involve uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond Legal & General's control, including, among others, UK domestic and global economic and business conditions, market related risks such as fluctuations in interest rates and exchange rates, the policies and actions of regulatory and Governmental authorities, the impact of competition, the timing impact of these events and other uncertainties of future acquisition or combinations within relevant industries. As a result, Legal & General Group's actual future condition, performance and results may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set out in these forward-looking statements and persons reading this announcement should not place reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as at the date on which such statements are made and Legal & General Group Plc does not undertake to update forward-looking statements contained in this document or any other forward-looking statement it may make.

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