Sun Life Closes Deal With Liberty Financial

By Staff Writer

November 01, 2001 at 07:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, Nov. 1, 2001, 12:55 p.m. – Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc., Toronto, today announced the closing of its purchase of Keyport Life Insurance Company and Independent Financial Marketing Group from Liberty Financial Companies, Inc. for $1.7 billion.

Regulators in the United States and Canada, as well as shareholders of Liberty Financial, approved the acquisition.

"Keyport and Independent Financial will add scale,, strengthen our product portfolio and expand our distribution in key target product markets in North America," says Donald A. Stewart, the chairman of the company.

Keyport is a Boston-based provider of fixed and variable annuities with expertise and products that complement both Sun Life Financial's products and distribution capabilities, Sun Life says in its announcement. With about 300,000 outstanding annuity contracts, Keyport generated total annuity sales of $2.7 billion in 2000 and $717 million in variable annuity sales.

Based in Purchase, N.Y., Independent Financial is provides annuities and mutual funds to financial institutions across the United States. The company was ranked first in the sale of annuities and mutual funds through banks in 1999 and 2000 by the Kehrer Report. It had sales of $3.3 billion in 2000.

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