A Lancaster, Pa., mutual life insurer has agreed to convert to a stock charter and use its new stock to pay for a neighbor.[@@]
The life insurer, Educators Mutual Life Insurance Company, hopes to acquire Eastern Holding Company Ltd., also of Lancaster, by the end of the year.
Educators Mutual, a policyholder-owned life insurer that sells group benefit plans to school districts and other employers, was formed in 1935 and now has $112 million in assets.
Eastern, a company that got its start in 1987 by insuring asbestos-removal contractors, now specializes in selling workers' compensation products and services. Eastern has $154 million in assets.
Robert McAlaine, the chairman of Educators Mutual, will be the chairman of the holding company board, and Bruce Eckert, the chairman of Eastern, will be the chief executive of the holding company.
Eckert describes the deal as an opportunity to help each company expand its marketing reach.
"Both Eastern and Educators Mutual have a similar focus on providing basic business insurance products to small and medium-sized companies in selected markets," Eckert says in a statement about the Educators Mutual deal.
