Canadian mega-merger will not affect local ops

Canadian insurer Great-West Lifeco's acquisition of rival Canada Life Financial Corporation (NYSE: CLU) will not have any short-term impact on Canada Life's Brazilian operations, a spokesperson from Great-West told BNamericas. Canada Life announced Monday that Great-West had agreed to acquire all of Canada Life's common shares for a combination of cash and Great-West securities valued at C$44.5 (US$29.4) per Canada Life common share. Through the acquisition Great-West will gain a foothold in Latin America's largest insurance market Brazil, where Canada Life entered in 1999 as part of an international expansion plan that extended to include Germany in 2000. Great-West does not have any presence in Latin America and the company plans to continue to run Canada Life's Brazilian operations as before without changes "for the foreseeable future," the spokesperson said. The Canada Life deal also gives Great-West insurance operations in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Great-West and Canada Life are both leading insurers in Canada, with assets under management of C$96bn and C$68bn, respectively.