Protective Life Corp. says its Protective Life Insurance Company unit has agreed to acquire United Investors Life Insurance Company from Liberty National Life Insurance Company for about $316 million.
Protective Life, Birmingham, Ala. (NYSE:PL), expects to invest about $260 million in the company, excluding excess capital of about $56 million to be held by United Investors Life at closing. The price includes statutory capital and surplus of about $130 million. Protective Life and Liberty National hope to close on the deal by Dec. 31.
Liberty National is a subsidiary of Torchmark Corp., McKinney, Texas ((NYSE: TMK).
Andrew Kligerman, an analyst with UBS Investment Research, New York, says the agreement carries "minimal integration risk," noting that Protective Life has a successful record of acquiring closed blocks of business.