British insurer Prudential is to buy American General Corp in an all-share deal valuing the US group at $26.5bn and creating the world's sixth largest insurance group.
Prudential said the merger aimed to exploit growth opportunities in Europe, North America and Asia. The deal is being billed as the world's largest marriage of insurers.
Under the deal, Prudential would end up owning 50.5% of the merged group which would have a market value, based on their respective capitalisations, of $45.3bn. Together, they would have funds under management of $336bn.
