PENSIONS specialist National Mutual is to be taken over by GE Capital in a deal worth £570m.

National Mutual, which announced in March it was reviewing its mutual status, said a new company would be created from the tie-up.

About 160,000 National Mutual members are likely to receive windfalls of about £500 to compensate for the loss of membership rights.

National Mutual, formed in 1896, and which boasts Winston Churchill as a former customer, said the deal still needed the approval of members.

But Gavin Hill, managing director of National Mutual, said the move was in members' best interests because of the financial standing of GE Capital.

He added: "GE Capital plans to build on what we have been doing and there will be enhanced career opportunities for many of our people."

GE Capital, with assets of more than £308bn, is the financial services arm of General Electric. Based in London, it was among a number of companies interested in taking over National Mutual's operations.

Others thought to have the run the rule over it included Aegon, the Dutch owner of Scottish Equitable, and Canada Life.

A GE spokesman said no redundancies were expected as a result of the tie-up, which is scheduled to take place in the first half of next year.

The respective IFA operations would be merged and able to access a combined range of products from a single GE branded sales force.

Clive Cowdery, chairman of GE's insurance holdings subsidiary, said the deal significantly enhanced its position in the UK specialist pensions sector. "We will bring GE Life and National Mutual together under the GE brand name, combining the management skills and complementary knowledge bases of both companies."

National Mutual, which employs about 700 staff, specialises in supplying sophisticated pension products aimed at middle to high earners.

It has about 250,000 policyholders, but only with-profits members will receive the windfalls totalling £80m.

Estimates earlier this year suggested the individual payouts could be as high as £3,000.