HALIFAX, July 8, 2003 – Maritime Life today announced that it has completed the assumption of the insurance business of Liberty Health, a Canadian division of US-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. The C$140 million transaction is expected to add approximately $700 million in premiums and premium equivalents, primarily to Maritime Life’s group insurance operations, and reinforces Maritime Life’s position as one of the top group insurers in Canada.
“Liberty Health is an excellent complement to our growing business and significantly strengthens our presence in group insurance, particularly in Ontario, which is our largest market,” said Bob Nicholas, senior vice president, Maritime Life Group Operations. “Liberty Health is also a national leader in individual health insurance, with a 25 per cent market share. The addition of this business reinforces Maritime Life’s position as one of the top insurance companies in Canada.”
“Maritime Life has established an excellent track record of integrating businesses successfully over the years, and we are looking forward to continuing that tradition with Liberty Health in order to create additional long-term benefits for our employees, our business partners and, of course, our customers,” Mr. Nicholas said. “For our customers, a larger company means a stronger company with more potential to continually improve service and product offerings at competitive pricing.”
“We are quite enthusiastic about joining the Maritime Life family,” said David McFarlane, senior vice president, Consumer and Small Business Markets, Liberty Health. “The fit between our companies, both culturally and strategically, makes sense. We share a number of values, including a strong focus on both employee and customer satisfaction, and we also share a commitment to continuing growth and innovation in the Canadian marketplace in the years ahead”.
Through the agreement, Maritime Life has assumed the entire business of Liberty Health, including its group life, group disability and group health divisions, as well as its individual health insurance business.
Maritime Life has grown significantly over the past eight years, having completed four purchases including Liberty Health, Royal & SunAlliance Financial (2001), Aetna Life Insurance Company of Canada (1999) and the Canadian life, health and segregated fund portfolios of Confederation Life (1995).
About Maritime Life
Founded in 1922, Maritime Life is one of Canada’s fastest growing financial services companies, offering financial security through a selection of personal insurance, disability and critical illness insurance, investment products, pensions, and group life and health products and services. Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Maritime Life provides benefits to over two million Canadian families through offices in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Markham, Kitchener, Calgary and Vancouver.
Maritime Life is one of only three companies to be included four consecutive years in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine ranking of “The 50 Best Companies to Work for in Canada”.
As a subsidiary of Boston-based John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., Maritime Life comes from a tradition of strength and stability. John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: JHF) and its affiliated companies, including John Hancock Life Insurance Company, provide a broad array of insurance and investment products and services to retail and institutional customers. As of March 31, 2003, John Hancock and its subsidiaries had total assets under management of US$130.4 billion.
Tags: Acquisition, Liberty Mutual
