Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has agreed to sell its
retirement-plans business to Massachusetts
Mutual Life Insurance Co. for $400 million, the latest step in the
Connecticut insurer’s effort to narrow its focus.
The transaction, which is expected
to close by the end of 2012, would nearly double the size of Springfield,
Mass.-based MassMutual’s retirement business, the companies said.
MassMutual had roughly 7,600
retirement plans with $66.2 billion under management, and Hartford had more
than 33,000 plans with $54.9 billion under management as of June 30, the
companies said.
The combined operation will nearly
double the number of retirement-plan participants that MassMutual serves, to
about 3 million, and place MassMutual higher just outside the nation’s 10
biggest retirement plan providers.
The transaction is the second pact
announced in recent months by Hartford as it regroups to focus on its
property-casualty, group-benefits and mutual-funds businesses.
Earlier this summer, Hartford
agreed to sell a broker-dealer business to American
International Group Inc. As previously reported, Hartford is in talks to
sell a life-insurance business to Prudential
Financial Inc. Representatives of Prudential
and Hartford declined to comment on the potential deal.
Hartford’s divestitures have come after noisy criticism from
big shareholder Paulson & Co.,
which early this year demanded that the insurer take action to improve its
stock price. The firm has since stepped back from its activist role.
Hartford shares fell 23 cents, or 1.3%, Tuesday to $17.70.