Lincoln National to Acquire Jefferson-Pilot; Life Insurance Industry Consolidation Expected

Life insurer Lincoln National announced today that it has agreed to acquire its smaller rival Jefferson-Pilot Corp. for about $7.5 billion in cash or stock. Post-deal, Lincoln National will be the fourth-largest U.S. life insurer with $151.3 billion in assets, ranking behind Prudential Financial Inc., MetLife Inc. and TIAA-CREF and ahead of New York Life Insurance Co.  Analyst speculate that further industry consolidation will follow to allow life insurance companies to “extend their geographic reach, diversify their products and, most important, achieve larger scale." Click here for a Reuters article.