AEGON to Drop U.S. BOLI, COLI Lines

By Trevor Thomas

December 01, 2010 at 07:00 PM

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AEGON N.V. says it will stop selling bank-owned life insurance and corporate-owned life insurance (BOLI-COLI) in the United States and close down its BOLI-COLI operations in Louisville, Ky.

AEGON, The Hague, Netherlands (NYSE:AG), says it also will discontinue new sales of nonqualified executive benefit plans.

The company is making the moves to focus on core activities and improve the efficiency of its U.S. operations, according to Mark Mullin, chief executive officer of AEGON Americas, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Most of the BOLI and COLI unit employees are in Dallas.

Office closings in Louisville and elsewhere could lead to the elimination of about 400 to 500 U.S. jobs over the next 2 years, or about 5% of all AEGON jobs in the United States, the company says.

The cutbacks will result in a restructuring charge of about $80 million and a $210 million write-off of goodwill and other intangible assets, AEGON says.

AEGON is the parent company of Transamerica, Los Angeles. The company expanded its BOLI and COLI operations by agreeing to pay about $293 million to acquire Clark Inc., Barrington, Ill., in 2007. AEGON increased the price to $304 million before it completed acquisition.

- Trevor Thomas

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