By Nathalie Tadena
Protective Life Corp. (PL) agreed to acquire MONY Life Insurance
Co. from AXA SA (CS.FR, AXAHY) and reinsure certain life insurance
policies written by a MONY subsidiary for about $1.06 billion, a
deal the company said will produce a steady stream of earnings for
many years to come.
As part of the deal, Protective will reinsure certain policies
of MONY Life Insurance Company of America. Protective said the book
of business, which is comprised primarily of life insurance
policies written prior to 2004, has a limited array of product and
equity market guarantees.
"This large, high quality, seasoned book of business presents
one of the most attractive acquisition opportunities we have seen
in many years," said Protective Chairman and Chief Executive John
D. Johns.
The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of the
year, is expected to add about 10 cents to 15 cents a share to
Protective's full-year earnings in 2013. It is expected to
contribute 55 cents to 65 cents in per-share earnings in 2014, and
65 cents to 75 cents per-share earnings in 2015.
AXA said the deal is in line with its capital management
strategy and allows it to remain focused on its national
distribution structure and further growth in its its core
businesses of financial protection, employer-sponsored products and
retirement savings.
Protective Life shares closed at $35.59 and were unchanged after
hours. The stock is up 25% since the start of the year.
-Write to Nathalie Tadena at nathalie.tadena@dowjones.com
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