Hartford, Fortis Complete Sale

The Hartford Financial Services Group and Fortis, Inc. The U.S. subsidiary of the Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group announced that the sale of Fortis Financial Group to Hartford in a cash transaction valued at $1.12 billion had been completed.

FFG’s variable life insurance and annuity businesses and its proprietary mutual fund complex will be integrated into Hartford’s operations. Fortis retains some $200 million of FFG’s statutory surplus, and has said it will now concentrate on a “strategy in the United States to build and manage a select portfolio of specialty insurance businesses that are leaders in their respective markets.”

In 1999 Fortis purchased American Bankers Insurance Group, which specializes in credit related insurance products. Other U.S. subsidiaries include Assurant Group, Fortis Benefits, Fortis Family and Fortis Health.