Manulife Acquires Canadian Ops of Standard Life

Manulife Financial Corporation has announced that The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (MLI) will acquire the Canadian-based operations of Standard Life Oversea Holdings, a subsidiary of Standard Life plc. The transaction is valued at approximately $4 billion.

Manulife’s purchase strengthens its ability to better serve customers with products such as group benefits, multiple areas of asset management, and investment risk oversight throughout Canada and across the globe. It hopes to build its presence in Quebec and expand its business throughout the country.

The high price of the acquisition will not set Manulife back. “This transaction, and the financing, maintain our strong capital position, and in no way inhibit our ability to pay dividends,” said CEO Donald A. Guloien in a statement. “In fact, it will enhance our ability to increase dividends in the future.”

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Kelly Sheridan is the Staff Editor at Dark Reading, where she focuses on cybersecurity news and analysis. She is a business technology journalist who previously reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft, and Insurance & Technology, where she covered financial ... View Full Bio