Canada’s Sun Life Financial will acquire KC’s Assurant Employee Benefits

Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial will acquire Kansas City-based Assurant Employee Benefits for $975 million.

The transaction, which is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2016, will create the sixth-largest group benefits business in the United States, the announcement said.

Assurant is headquartered at 2323 Grand Blvd., and employs about 1,700 people, including about 800 here. Those employees are expected to be offered positions with Sun Life, the announcement said.

While Sun Life’s U.S. headquarters is in Wellesley, Mass., there are no plans to close Assurant’s operations here. Sun Life said it will operate its U.S. Group Benefits business from the multiple sites.

Assurant’s parent company, Assurant Inc., had said earlier this year it was looking to sell the employee benefits business that serves more than 30,000 small and midsize companies, along with its health insurance operation.

Sun Life said the deal will “significantly” increase the size and scale of its U.S. operation. The acquisition will add a dental business and provider network, as well as group life and disability coverage. Sun Life said its U.S. business will provide coverage through about 64,000 employers after the deal closes.

The financial services company expects the deal, which was announced late Wednesday, to start helping its performance immediately by adding 8 cents per share to earnings in 2016, excluding transaction and integration costs.

Toronto-based Sun Life Financial Inc. also operates in the United Kingdom, China, India and Japan, among other countries, and provides financial planning services.

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Canada’s Sun Life Financial will acquire KC’s Assurant Employee Benefits."