U.S. Firm Agrees to Acquire Fidelity & Guaranty Life

The header for the CF Corp. documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gives a business address on Madison Avenue in New York.

Foley and Chinh Chu, the other CF Corp. co-chairman, raised about $600 million in cash from investors about a year ago through an initial public offering of common stock.

Before founding CF Corp., Chu was a senior managing director at Blackstone, a major investment firm. He worked at Blackstone from 1990 through 2015. While there, he served on the board of HealthMarkets Inc., a company that distributes supplemental health insurance products and other insurance products, according to the CF Corp. IPO registration statement.

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Curbed New York ran a slideshow in 2014 that identified Chu as a billionaire and presented 49 photos of his penthouse apartment in New York.

Foley spent 32 years working as a director and executive officer at Fidelity National Financial, a title insurance provider, and Fidelity National Financial's sister company, FNFV Group. FNF provides technology and support services to companies in the real estate and mortgage lending industries.

The founders said in the registration statement that they wanted the company to be a "blank check company" that would eventually acquire and transform a financial, technology or services company.

One of the companies that invested CF Corp., Blue Pool Capital Ltd., has ties to the founders of the Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company. Blue Pool acquired a 7.2% stake in CF Corp. The other companies that filed ownership reports with the SEC appear to be non-Chinese.

The Deal

CF Corp. says it will pay for the acquisition with cash from its IPO and with about $700 million cash from the sale of new shares common and preferred stock.

A Blackstone affiliate and Fidelity National Financial are also agreeing to fill in if $300 million in other financing falls through.

A fund advised by units of Blackstone and Fidelity National Foundation "have provided a full backstop funding commitment to ensure certainty of funding," according to CF Corp. and Fidelity & Guaranty Life.

Fidelity & Guaranty Life will use investment management services from Blackstone along with its current investment team, according to CF Corp. and Fidelity & Guaranty Life.

CF Corp. intends to acquire two or more HRG reinsurance units along with Fidelity & Guaranty Life, the companies say. A copy of the deal agreement filed with the SEC shows CF Corp. will need approval from Vermont regulators for the acquisition of one of the reinsurance units.

The companies hope to complete the deal by the end of the year.

— Read Old Mutual Rolls Out 3 EIAs on ThinkAdvisor.