Standard Life shareholders are set for a £1.75bn payout after the firm announced the sale of its Canadian business to a subsidiary of Manulife.
The firm will sell its Canadian long-term savings and retirement, insurance and investment management businesses.
Following the £2.2bn sale, investors will have the option of receiving the return as either income or capital.
Further information about the deal and the payout will be sent to investors this month.
Group chief executive David Nish said the sale will accelerate growth: "The proposed capital return of £1.75bn, equivalent to 73p per share, will take the total amount of dividends and returns to shareholders since 2010 to 147p per share."
In addition to the sale, Standard Life Investments will collaborate with Manulife to distribute funds in Canada, the US and Asia. The firm expects SLI's assets under management distributed by Manulife to treble within three years. It will also work with John Hancock, the US unit of Manulife.
As a result of the sale, SLI will make its Boston office the heart of its entire North American business, with an office in Toronto for local institutional clients.
Standard Life Investments chief executive Keith Skeoch (pictured) said: "The sale will create new opportunities at Standard Life Investments, as we enter into a global collaboration agreement with Manulife, who intend to distribute our funds into Canada, the United States and Asia’s retail markets.
"We will reciprocate by distributing their funds into the UK retail market. It will also deepen our distribution capability with John Hancock in the United States and strengthen our profit margin, and therefore our ability to reinvest in our business."
