Aegon agrees to buy Merrill Lynch and ML Life Insurance Company of New York

It has been said that Aegon the Dutch insurers have agreed to buy two Merrill Lynch Insurance units which are Merrill Lynch Life Insurance Company and ML Life Insurance Company for a staggering $1.3 billion, this is said to increase sales of variable annuities and distribution in the United States. Aegon have also said that they will form a strategic relationship with Merrill Lynch in investment and insurance products plus Aegon’s Transamerica companies will indeed support Merrill’s financial adviser network.

The two companies that Aegon are acquiring had $800 million of variable annuity sales back in 2006 and a massive $10 billion of variable annuity assets at the end year of 2006. This transaction will indeed put Aegon in the top 10 of variable annuity sellers in the broker dealer segment.

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