Rothesay Life to buy annuity book from Zurich UK Life for 1.2 billion pounds

LONDON (Reuters) - Specialist pension provider Rothesay Life will buy a legacy annuities portfolio from Zurich UK Life for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.88 billion), Zurich UK Life said on Tuesday.

Rothesay Life will initially reinsure the annuities book, which has not been actively marketed since 2005 and has 28,000 members, the life insurer said in a statement.

The deal takes Rothesay Life's 2015 new business premium past 1.7 billion pounds, Rothesay Life said in the statement.

Upcoming Solvency II capital requirement rules for insurers are expected to spur deals in the sector, industry specialists say.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn, editing by Sinead Cruise)