According to news agency Reuters, the United Kingdom firm is planning to raise £800million to fund the purchase which will be finalised in the next couple of weeks.
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Competition for consolidation of closed life insurance businesses in the United Kingdom is strong, with Swiss Re and Legal & General both pushing for deals.
A statement from the group said: “Phoenix continues to explore further acquisition opportunities in the United Kingdom closed life sector”.
Bannister said Phoenix would look at other opportunities if the deal with Deutsche Bank fell through.
Phoenix, Britain’s largest owner of “zombie” life insurance funds, has confirmed it is in talks with Deutsche Bank over the possible acquisition of Abbey Life.
Closed book pension Phoenix Group is closing in on a deal to buy Abbey Life.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment on Friday.
Abbey Life is the United Kingdom insurance arm of Deutsche Bank, and is reportedly worth £3 billion.
The interest rate cut that followed Britain’s vote to leave the European Union has also squeezed returns on investments for companies that manage closed life insurers.
The consolidator already said in its interim results on 25 August it was exploring further acquisition opportunities in the closed United Kingdom life sector.
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At the time, Abbey Life, which was bought by Deutsche Bank for £977m in 2007, was valued at as much as £3bn, although sources close to Phoenix claimed that it is really worth little more than £1bn ($1.4bn, €1.3bn).
