Editing Prudential plc (section)

==History==

===Early history===
The company was founded in [[Hatton Garden]] in London in May 1848 as The Prudential, Investment, Loan, and Assurance Association and in September 1848 changed its name to The Prudential Mutual Assurance, Investment, and Loan Association,<ref name="Denn">{{cite book|author=Dennett, Laurie.|title=A Sense of Security: 150 Years of Prudential|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5EEm3mbYqwAC&pg=PA165|year=1998|publisher=Granta Editions|isbn=978-1-85757-060-1|pages=18–20}}</ref> to provide loans to professional and working people.<ref name=timeline1826/> In 1854, the company began selling the relatively new concept of Industrial Branch insurance policies to the working class population for premiums as low as one penny a week through agents acting as [[door to door salesman|door to door salesmen]]. The army of premium collection agents was for many years identified with the Prudential as the "Man from the Pru".<ref name=timeline1826/> The company moved to its long-time home at [[Holborn Bars]] in 1879 and converted to a [[limited company]] in 1881.<ref name=timeline1826/> The building was designed by [[Alfred Waterhouse]], and is built of terracotta manufactured by [[Gibbs and Canning]] of Tamworth (c.1878): two of the same driving forces behind the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] in London.<ref>[http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/arodgers/gibbs_and_canning.htm Research page including details of many buildings that used Gibbs and Canning terracotta] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615082058/http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/arodgers/gibbs_and_canning.htm |date=15 June 2007 }} accessed 25 March 2012</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Prudential Assurance Building 1, Holborn, London - Diliff.jpg|thumb|right|Holborn Bars—Traditional home of Prudential]]
The company was first listed on the [[London Stock Exchange]] in 1924.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timeline |url=https://www.prudentialplc.com/en/about-us/our-history/timeline |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=www.prudentialplc.com |language=en}}</ref>

In the mid-1980s, financial deregulation allowed financial institutions to own estate agencies, and Prudential decided to follow early market entrants such as [[Provident Financial|Provident Financial Group plc]] (Whitegates) and [[Lloyds Bank]] (Black Horse Agencies),<ref name="Cases">{{cite book |editor1-last=Ennew |editor1-first=Christine |title=Cases in Marketing Financial Services |date=1993 |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Marketing |location=Oxford |isbn=0750606614 |pages=196–200}}</ref> in summer 1985 by purchasing a long-established and successful Huntingdon-based firm of estate agents, Ekins, Dilley and Handley, for £12 million.<ref name="Dennett">{{cite book |last1=Dennett |first1=Laurie |title=A Sense of Security: 150 Years of Prudential |date=1998 |publisher=Granta Editions |location=Cambridge |isbn=185757060X |page=363}}</ref> This was originally intended as an experiment allowing the company a new route to market for mortgage-linked endowment policies; however after many other financial institutions followed suit, Prudential rapidly started to embark on an acquisition trail which would quickly see it become market leader in terms of number of offices.<ref name="Independent1">{{cite news |last1=Thomson |first1=Richard |title=The lenders fold their cards: Richard Thomson looks into the story behind Abbey National's sale of its disastrous estate agency venture |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/the-lenders-fold-their-cards-richard-thomson-looks-into-the-story-behind-abbey-nationals-sale-of-its-1462787.html|work=The Independent|access-date=27 March 2020 |date=22 August 1993}}</ref><ref name="Cases"/> Acquisitions included [[Chestertons|Chestertons Residential]] and Earl & Lawrence in August 1986,<ref name="Times8886">{{cite news |last1=Eadie |first1=Alison |title=Prudential buys two estate agencies |work=The Times |date=8 August 1986 |url=https://archive.org/stream/NewsUK1986UKEnglish/Aug%2008%201986%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2362530%2C%20UK%20%28en%29_djvu.txt |access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref> Edward Bailey & Son in January 1987, The Channel Island Estate Agency Property Shop in February 1987, and Rogers & Clark in May 1987.<ref name="Mergers87">{{cite book |last1=George |first1=K D |title=Mergers and Acquisitions Year Book |date=1988 |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |location=Basingstoke |isbn=978-1-349-10005-7 |pages=68, 116, 402}}</ref> This was however done at great cost. Although a typical cost of establishing a new estate agency branch was around £75,000–£100,000, Prudential paid a total of £125 million for 337 of its branches: an average cost per branch of £371,000.<ref name="WinnersLosers">{{cite book |last1=Hamnett |first1=Chris |title=Winners And Losers: Home Ownership in Modern Britain |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |isbn=978-1857283341 |pages=42–44}}</ref>

In 1986, Prudential acquired the American insurer [[Jackson National Life]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/19/business/company-news-prudential-plc-to-buy-jackson.html|title=Prudential P.L.C. To Buy Jackson|date=19 September 1986|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 April 2017}}</ref> In the same year, amongst many other acquisitions, Prudential Property Services acquired the fifty-two strong chain of [[LSL Property Services|Reeds Rains]] for £24 million.<ref name="Lawson1">Lawson, David (1999). Swiss Financial Giant Backs UK Residential Agents. Property Week, April 1999.</ref>

The collapse of the housing market in the south of England in 1989 brought about a slump in income at Prudential Property Services, which during the first half of 1990 lost £23 million. Prudential had been closing branches, with 100 closing between December 1988 and May 1990. After these losses were announced, another 175 branches closed in July 1990. In May 1991 Prudential sold the remainder of the chain for a total of £13.5 million, representing a 90% loss on the cost of acquisition. Some branches were purchased by their original owners for fractions of the price they had received from the Prudential just a few years earlier.<ref name="WinnersLosers" /> For example, the Prudential Property Services office in Hanwell was originally an independent agency, purchased by Prudential for £200,000: it was subsequently sold off to Rolfe East Estate Agents for £1.<ref name="Independent2" /> The western division of Prudential Property Services was sold to [[Scottish Widows]] to join their [[Connells Group|Connells Estate Agents]] chain. The northern division<ref name="Independent2">{{cite web |last1=Willcock |first1=John |title=Abbey National sells estate agents for 8m pounds: Two entrepreneurs buy Cornerstone chain after bank's losses since 1987 mount to at least pounds 243m |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/abbey-national-sells-estate-agents-for-8m-pounds-two-entrepreneurs-buy-cornerstone-chain-after-banks-1461674.html|work=The Independent|access-date=27 February 2020 |date=17 August 1993}}</ref> was sold in a £3.4 million management buyout reverting to the name, Reeds Rains,<ref name="Lawson1" /> the south east division was sold to become Arun Estates,<ref name="Independent2" /> and Chestertons and another region were sold to the [[The Woolwich|Woolwich Property Services]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Woolwich Property Services Limited |title=Accounts to 31 December 1991 |date=1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Backe-Hansen |first1=Melanie |title=The History of Chestertons |date=2018 |publisher=Chestertons Global Limited}}</ref>

In 1997, Prudential acquired Scottish Amicable, a business founded in 1826 in [[Glasgow]] as the West of Scotland Life Insurance Company, for £1.75 bn.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/26/business/prudential-of-britain-in-deal-to-buy-scottish-life-insurer.html Pru of Britain in Deal to buy Scottish Life Insurancer]. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 26 March 1997.</ref>

In 1998, Prudential set up [[Egg Banking|Egg]], an [[Online banking|internet bank]] in the UK. The subsidiary reached 550,000 customers within nine months, but had difficulty achieving profitability.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/406903.stm Egg cracks internet for Pru] BBC News, 1999</ref> In June 2000, an [[initial public offering]] of 21% was made to allow for further growth of the internet business, but in February 2006 Prudential decided to repurchase the 21% share of Egg.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4487456.stm Prudential to swallow the Egg whole]. [[BBC News]], 2005.</ref> Egg was subsequently sold to Citibank in January 2007.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6309731.stm Pru sells Egg to Citigroup]. [[BBC News]], 2007.</ref> In 1999, [[M&G]], a UK [[investment management|fund management]] company, was acquired.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/294759.stm Pru pounces on investment rival] BBC News, 1999</ref> In June 2000, the company was first listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]] to help focus on the US market.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/790649.stm Prudential goes to New York] BBC News, 2000</ref>

===21st century===

In February 2002, [[Churchill Insurance|Churchill]] bought Prudential's general insurance business.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/churchill-set-to-cull-pru-suppliers/1350407.article|title=Churchill set to cull Pru suppliers|work=Insurance Times|date=31 January 2002|access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref>

In October 2004, Prudential launched a new subsidiary, [[PruHealth]], a joint venture with Discovery Holdings of South Africa selling [[Health insurance|private medical insurance]] to the UK market.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3706970.stm Insurance boon for health conscious]. [[BBC News]], 2004.</ref> In April 2008, Prudential outsourced its back office functions to [[Capita]]: about 3,000 jobs were transferred (1,000 in [[Stirling]], 750 in [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] and 1,250 in [[Mumbai]]).<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7116240.stm Prudential jobs deal with Capita] BBC News, 2007</ref> This significant outsourcing deal, worth an estimated £722m over a 15-year contract, built on Prudential's existing relationship with Capita, who took over its [[Belfast]] operation in 2006 along with about 450 employees in a smaller operational restructure.<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060817/ai_n16640437 Prudential outsources 450 jobs in Belfast to Capita Group]. ''[[The Independent]]'', 17 August 2006.</ref>

On 1 March 2010, Prudential announced that it was in "advanced talks" to purchase the pan-Asian life insurance company of [[AIG]], [[American International Assurance]] (AIA) for approximately £23&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/01/prudential-american-international-assurance-merger |title=Prudential gambles on Asia with $35bn deal |work=The Guardian|date=1 March 2010 |access-date=18 April 2011}}</ref> The deal later collapsed, and AIA ended up raising money in an IPO.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10211773|title=Prudential abandons bid for AIA|date=2 June 2010|publisher=BBC News|access-date=25 March 2012}}</ref>

In December 2013, Prudential announced the purchase of Ghana's Express Life Company. Express Life was subsequently rebranded as Prudential Ghana.<ref name="Prudential Moves into Insurance in Ghana">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4b1536b8-5daa-11e3-b3e8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3RLb8NVxE |title=Prudential Moves into Insurance in Ghana |work=The Financial Times| access-date=5 December 2013}}</ref> In April 2014, Prudential launched two corporate responsibility initiatives to support education in Ghana: the Prudential Scholarship Programme for more than 500 senior high school students, in partnership with the NGO Plan Ghana; and a scheme to support actuarial science graduates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thebftonline.com/content/prudential-increases-capital-base%E2%80%A6-it-opens-business|title=Prudential Increases Capital Base|date=25 April 2014|work=Business and Financial Times|access-date=25 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803191416/http://thebftonline.com/content/prudential-increases-capital-base%E2%80%A6-it-opens-business|archive-date=3 August 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In September 2014, Prudential purchased Kenyan life insurer Shield Assurance and rebranded it as Prudential Kenya, further expanding the company's presence in Africa.<ref name="Prudential Buys Kenyan Insurer in Second African Purchase">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-16/prudential-buys-kenyan-insurer-in-second-africa-purchase |title=Prudential Buys Kenyan Insurer in Second African Purchase |publisher=Bloomberg Business | access-date=16 September 2014 |first=Sarah |last=Jones |date=16 September 2014}}</ref> Prudential has since entered six other African countries – Uganda in 2015, Zambia in 2016, Nigeria in 2017, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thenationonlineng.net/uks-prudential-becomes-majority-investor-zenith-life-assurance/|title=UK's Prudential becomes majority investor in Zenith Life Assurance|author=Taofik Salako|work=thenationonlineng.net|date=4 September 2017 |access-date=4 September 2017}}</ref>

On 10 March 2015, it was announced that the CEO, [[Tidjane Thiam]], would leave Prudential to become the next CEO of [[Credit Suisse]].<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|last1=Milmo|first1=Dan|title=Prudential's Tidjane Thiam to take top role at Credit Suisse|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/10/prudentials-tidjane-thiam-to-take-top-role-at-credit-suisse|access-date=10 March 2015|work=The Guardian|date=10 March 2015}}</ref> On 1 May 2015, it was announced that [[Mike Wells (businessman)|Mike Wells]], head of the company's US business, would succeed Tidjane Thiam as CEO, on a pay package worth up to £7.5 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/01/prudential-appoints-new-ceo-on-75m-pay-package |title=Prudential appoints new CEO on £7.5m pay package|author=Julia Kollewe|work=The Guardian|date=May 2015 |access-date=26 March 2016}}</ref>

In August 2017, it was announced that Prudential was to combine its asset manager, M&G, and Prudential UK & Europe to form [[M&G|M&GPrudential]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/9abc0bfa-7de1-11e7-ab01-a13271d1ee9c |title=Prudential announces merger of M&G and Prudential UK & Europe |publisher=FT.com | access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref>

In November 2017, Prudential announced the change in the name of its joint venture with Chinese investment company CITIC to "CITIC Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2017-11-29/doc-ifyphkhk8754635.shtml |title=Prudential changes name of Chinese joint venture |publisher=Sina Finance | access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref>

In March 2018, Prudential announced that it would demerge M&GPrudential from the Group;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/03/14/prudential-spin-mg-separate-business/|title=Prudential unveils radical overhaul as it splits itself in two FTSE 100 firms|author=Lucy Burton|work=The Telegraph|date=14 March 2018 |access-date=14 March 2018}}</ref> the demerger was completed on 21 October 2019.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/markets/article/m-g-makes-its-debut-after-demerger-from-prudential-lwzgsb9st|title=M&G makes its debut after demerger from Prudential|last=Senior City Correspondent|first=Ben Martin|date=2019-10-21|work=The Times|access-date=2019-10-21|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>

In 2021, the company demerged its US business Jackson National Life leaving it focused solely on African and Asian markets.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/50a710b5-1ae9-4525-bb88-d5e584e00fdd|title=Prudential carve-up set to complete next month|newspaper=Financial Times|date=11 August 2021|access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref> 

As of March 2022, 60 percent of Prudential's head office staff were based in Hong Kong, and fewer than 200 employees were in London.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prudential hit by China's zero-Covid policy |url=https://www.ft.com/content/0c3f71e4-fd1d-481e-956f-85a8f528625e |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.ft.com|date=10 August 2022 |last1=Kinder |first1=Tabby }}</ref>