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Berkshire Hathaway Makes Life Reinsurance Deal

By Allison Bell

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A life insurance unit at Warren Buffett’s company has agreed to acquire a life reinsurance business from Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada.

The Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Omaha, Neb., hopes to close on the deal by Dec. 31, according to Sun Life Financial Inc., Toronto (NYSE:SLF), the parent of Sun Life Assurance.

The unit has about 70 employees in Canada, the United States and Ireland, and it has the equivalent of about $110 billion in U.S. currency in life insurance in force.

Sun Life wants to put the capital released by the deal to work in other businesses, according to Sun Life Chief Executive Officer Donald Stewart.

“Our reinsurance business is profitable, but it is not a growth area for Sun Life Financial,” Stewart says in a statement.

Stewart notes that buyer interest in the Sun Life life reinsurance business has been strong.

Berkshire Hathaway is the parent of the General Re Life Corp. reinsurance company.