Sale of 90% stake in Gresham

Legal & General Group PLC
03 February 2005

3 February 2005




                           Legal & General Group Plc

                 Sale of 90% stake in Gresham Insurance Company



Legal & General Group Plc 'Legal & General' today announces that it has agreed
in principle to sell its 90% stake in its subsidiary Gresham Insurance Company
Ltd ('Gresham') to Barclays Bank PLC ('Barclays'), which already owns the
remaining 10% stake, for a consideration of £85m.



Legal & General expects to book an after-tax profit of £26m, which will be
reported in its 2005 results. The capital released from the sale of Gresham will
be available for redeployment elsewhere within the Legal & General Group.



Robin Phipps, Legal & General's Group Director (UK Operations), said 'The
General Insurance relationship with Barclays has been a long and fruitful one
for Legal & General, delivering a good return on capital. The sale of our
interest in Gresham releases capital which will be available to support
continued growth in both our core General Insurance and Life businesses.  Our
wider relationship with Barclays continues to be strong.'



Mike Rogers, managing director, Retail Banking, Barclays, said 'The Gresham
joint-venture with Legal & General, first set up with The Woolwich in 1995, has
served both parties well over many years. We are grateful to all those involved
with Gresham for the support and good service they have always provided both to
Barclays as an organisation and to our customers.'





Enquiries to:



Media:

John Morgan, Head of Public Relations                 020 7528 6213

Anthony Carlisle, Citigate Dewe Rogerson              07973 611888



Investors:

Peter Horsman, Head of Investor Relations             020 7528 6362





Notes to editors:



 1. Gresham's Gross Written Premiums (GWP) in 2003 were £147m. Legal & General
    Insurance's total GWP in 2003, including Gresham's GWP, were £426m.
    Gresham's post-tax profits in 2003 were £3m.



 2. The sale consideration and the after tax profit are subject to final audit.



 3. All staff affected by the sale of Gresham will be redeployed to other roles
    within Legal & General.



 4. The transaction contemplated by this announcement is expected to complete on
    31 March 2005, subject to contract and FSA approval.












                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange