In an effort to join the ranks of the top 10 annuity companies, Sun Life Financial Services announced a plan to buy both Keyport Life Insurance Co. and Independent Financial Marketing Group on May 3, 2001.

If the deal, valued at $1.7 billion, is approved by regulators in the United States and Canada, it will bring Keyport's 300,000 annuity contracts, and about $19 billion in assets it manages under the umbrella of the Canada-based company, and is expected to bring Sun Life Financial's variable annuity sales to $4.6 billion.

"The combination of Sun Life Financial's strong variable annuity franchise in the U.S. with Keyport's impressive fixed annuity business creates a wealth-management powerhouse," says James A. McNulty, executive vice president of U.S. operations for Sun Life Financial.

The proposed acquisition of Independent Financial Marketing Group would also provide a complement to Sun Life's distribution network, McNulty says.

Sun Life believes that the deal, if approved, would boost the earnings per share of the recently demutualized company by 15 to 20 cents per share by 2002, and could add as much as a full percentage point to the company's return on equity.