Prudential Financial has agreed to acquire the individual life insurance business of the Hartford Financial Services Group for $615 million in cash.
The deal follows pressure on Hartford earlier this year from the hedge fund manager John A. Paulson. Mr. Paulson had argued that spinning off Hartford's property and casualty business would increase shareholder value by 60 percent. Paulson & Company owns 7.19 percent of the company as of the end of June.
The insurer announced in March that it would sell its life insurance business and focus on its core operations in property and casualty, group benefits and mutual funds. The company said at the time that its decision came after a business review over several quarters.
The deal announced on Thursday is structured as a reinsurance transaction. Prudential will get some $7 billion of general account investment assets and corresponding reserves, and rights and obligations with respect to about $5 billion in s eparate account assets and corresponding liabilities. The cash component consists largely of Prudential giving up commissions to provide reinsurance for some 700,000 Hartford policies.
In a statement, Hartford said that it expected that the deal would benefit its net statutory capital by $1.5 billion.
“Today's announcement represents a significant milestone in the execution of The Hartford's strategy to deliver greater value to shareholders,†Liam E. McGee, the chief executive of Hartford, said in the statement.
John Strangfeld, the chief executive of Prudential Financial, said, “The integration of Prudential's Individual Life Insurance business and that of The Hartford will create an organization with greater scale, enhanced product offerings and expanded distribution expertise to meet the life insurance needs of Americans and their families,â€
Hartford was advised by Goldman Sachs, Greenhill and the law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan.< /p>
