Symetra Shareholders Green-Light Acquisition by Japan’s Sumitomo Corp.
November 10, 2015 by Dennis Gorski, managing editor-online, BestWeek: Dennis.Gorski@ambest.com
BELLEVUE, Wash. – Symetra Financial shareholders have given their approval to its proposed $3.76 billion acquisition by Sumitomo Corp.
At a special meeting, more than 99.7% of the votes were in favor, according to a statement by Symetra. The voting represented more than 85% of all outstanding shares, it said.
Sumitomo previously announced it plans to retain Symetra’s management team, including President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Marra, who has been at Symetra’s helm since 2010. Sumitomo will “augment” Symetra’s operations with some of its employees and officers, including directors, “in order to establish strong communications” (Best’s News Service, Aug. 11, 2015).
Symetra is a life, annuities and medical stop-loss provider, according to BestLink, and Sumitomo, based in Osaka, is a large Japanese life insurer, with $227.6 billion in total assets, according to its website.
The acquisition is expected to close by the second quarter of 2016.
The deal is one of several this year in which Japanese insurers have sought U.S. takeover targets, due to a shrinking at-home market. Examples include Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. in July agreeing to acquire StanCorp Financial Group Inc. for about $5 billion; Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. agreeing in June to acquire HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. for $7.5 billion; and Dai-ichi Life Co. Ltd.’s $5.7 billion acquisition of Protective Life.
Operating insurance units of Symetra Financial have a current Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).
In afternoon trading Nov. 5, shares of Symetra (NYSE: SYA) were $31.67, down 0.19% from their previous close.
