NU Online News Service, July 10, 11:33 a.m. – Protective Life Corp., Birmingham, Ala., has agreed to sell its dental benefits division to Fortis Inc., New York, for $300 million in cash.
Fortis Inc., the U.S. arm of Fortis, a large Belgian and Dutch financial services company, hopes to complete the deal by Dec. 31 and fold the newly acquired operation into Fortis Benefits, Kansas City, Mo., a subsidiary that sells group employee benefits.
Completing the deal would expand the Fortis Benefits sales organization by 50%, and make Fortis the leader in the U.S. market for employee-paid dental benefits, Fortis says.
Fortis estimates the deal will also make Fortis Benefits the fourth-largest U.S. provider of all types of dental benefits.
