National Western Life Group announced Tuesday that it has hired Goldman Sachs to help it conduct a review of "strategic alternatives to maximize value for the company's stockholders."
"No decision has been made to enter into a sale, merger or other strategic transaction," National Western Life said.
The announcement appeared just two weeks after Midwest Holding announced that it has agreed to be acquired by Antarctica Capital, a New York-based asset manager.
The Midwest Holding share price increased to more than $27 — or the Antarctic Capital deal price — from less than $14 the day before the deal was announced, and the National Western Life share price increased to more than $375 after it announced its strategic review, from a closing price of $267.29 Monday.
What It Means
Just as rising interest rates are increasing the appeal of fixed annuities, other economic and accounting forces might shuffle the names of the insurers backing those annuities.
The Company
National Western Life is an Austin, Texas-based company that was founded in 1956 and has about 275 home office employees.
The company has $13 billion in assets and $19 billion of life insurance in force.
