Standard Life plc is a long term savings and investment business, with headquarters in Edinburgh and operations across the globe. It has 1.5 million shareholders in more than 50 countries and over 6 million customers. The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and was reincorporated as a mutual assurance company in 1925. During the 19th century it opened offices in Canada, India, Shanghai and Uruguay. In 2006 demutualisation took place and the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange. The company sold Standard Life Bank plc to Barclays plc in January 2010... and then acquired the remaining 75 per cent stake in Threesixty, a financial advisory support business, that it did not already own for an undisclosed sum in March 2010. It sold its healthcare division to Discovery Holdings, a South African business, in May 2010 and went on to buy Focus Solutions Group, a financial software company, for £42m in December 2010. The company operates in North America, Europe, India and China: it has a large operation in Scotland where it employs some 6,000 staff. Standard Life has been the subject of a number of controversies in recent years.
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