SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the month of November 2004
PRUDENTIAL PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
(Translation of registrant's name into English)
LAURENCE POUNTNEY HILL,
LONDON, EC4R 0HH, ENGLAND
(Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F X Form 40-F
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes No X
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant
in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-
Enclosures: JNL buys Life of Georgia
For Immediate Release: Thursday 18 November 2004
JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE GROWS LIFE BUSINESS WITH PURCHASE OF LIFE OF GEORGIA FROM
ING FOR GBP137 MILLION
Jackson National Life Insurance Company ("JNL"), an indirect wholly-owned
subsidiary of Prudential plc, has entered into an agreement to buy Life
Insurance Company of Georgia from ING Groep, NV. JNL will pay GBP137 million in
cash for the business.
This purchase adds scale to JNL's operating platform and expands its agency
distribution. The additional 1.6 million life policies it will gain as a result
of the transaction will double the total number of life insurance and annuity
policies in force. By making use of excess capacity within its life
administration platform to service this new book of business, JNL expects to
lower the unit cost on its life business significantly.
Last year, JNL updated its life portfolio with several new products and improved
its distribution network. The purchase of Life of Georgia will help JNL grow its
life business more quickly and gain additional distribution. The company intends
to use Life of Georgia's existing agent base and increase its penetration into
the southeastern United States.
"This is exactly the sort of deal we have been targeting. It will improve JNL's
financial efficiency while also enhancing distribution, thereby accelerating our
organic growth strategy" said Clark Manning, CEO of Jackson National Life. "This
is a great opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of Jackson's low-cost,
flexible and scalable IT and administration infrastructure. As we discussed at
the time of our Interim Results, increasing the scale of our life business will
further diversify our earnings by increasing the percentage of income we receive
from underwriting activities in relation to our current spread-based and
fee-based businesses."
The purchase will be fully funded from JNL's internal resources and maintains
JNL's capital base. It is not expected to affect the Group's capital position as
previously reported. It is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to
complete in the first quarter of 2005. This follows the completion of the sale
of Jackson Federal Bank for GBP166 million, which was announced on 28 October
2004.
- ENDS -
Enquiries to:
Media Investors/Analysts
Prudential plc
Geraldine Davies 020 7548 3911 Rebecca Burrows 020 7548 3537
Clare Staley 020 7548 3719 Marina Lee-Steere 020 7548 3511
Joanne Davidson 020 7548 3708
Jackson National Life
Tim Padot +1 517 702 2425
Notes to Editors:
1. Returns from this acquisition are expected to be in excess of current
targets for the JNL business. As announced at the half year, JNL will be
increasing the level of remittances to the group by 43 per cent during 2004
from the current level of US$83 million to US$120 million.
2. The purchase price of US$254 million assumes capital retained in Life of
Georgia of US$80 million at closing. The final price will be adjusted to
take account of any increase or decrease in the capital available in Life of
Georgia at closing.
3. The exchange rate used in this announcement is as at 17 November 2004:
GBP1 = US$1.85.
Jackson National Life
Jackson National Life Insurance Company (JNL), headquartered in Lansing,
Michigan, is a leading life insurance company in the United States. With over
$60 billion in assets (GAAP), JNL is an industry leader in the areas of fixed,
indexed and variable annuities, and also sells life insurance and institutional
products. The company markets its products in 49 states and the District of
Columbia through independent insurance producers, financial institutions and
broker-dealers. In addition, JNL's subsidiary, Jackson National Life Insurance
Company of New York, similarly markets products in the state of New York.
As at June 30, 2004, JNL had $60.4 billion (US GAAP) in assets, $51.1 billion
(US GAAP) in policy reserves and variable annuity liabilities, $1.8 billion in
total revenue, and $339 million in net income.
As at June 30, 2004, JNL had approximately $5 billion (US GAAP) in life
insurance reserves (net of reinsurance), $121 billion of in-force insurance and
approximately 645,000 in-force life insurance policies. In the first half of
2004, JNL recorded $18 million in statutory first-year life insurance premium
and $241 million in statutory renewal premium.
Life Insurance Company of Georgia
Life Insurance Company of Georgia (LOG), a subsidiary of ING, is headquartered
in the United States in Atlanta, Georgia. LOG has long been a well-established
life insurance company in Georgia, and currently operates in ten additional
states in the southeastern United States - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The company currently has a workforce of approximately 570 employees - 190 of
whom support the business (new business, underwriting, etc.) at its corporate
headquarters and 380 producers who distribute its products in Florida, Georgia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. LOG has primarily
focused on maintaining its in-force block of lower-income home service business
and marketing traditional protection and accumulation products to the
middle-income market.
As at year-end 2003, LOG had $2.0 billion in statutory assets, $1.6 billion in
reserves, $12.2 billion in life insurance in force, $308 million in total
revenue, and $48 million in statutory net income.
Through the first six months of 2004, LOG reported total statutory revenue of
$150 million and net income of $25 million. As of June 30, 2004, LOG had
approximately $2.0 billion in statutory assets, $1.6 billion in reserves, 1.6
million policies in force, and $150 million of annualized in-force life premium.
Jackson National Life Insurance Company is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of
Prudential plc, a company incorporated and with its principal place of business
in the United Kingdom. Prudential plc and its affiliated companies constitute
one of the world's leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and
financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates
throughout the world. It has been in existence for over 150 years and has GBP170
billion in assets under management, as at 30 June 2004. Prudential plc is not
affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose
principal place of business is in the United States of America.
Forward-Looking Statements
This statement may contain certain "forward-looking statements" with respect to
certain of Prudential's plans and its current goals and expectations relating to
its future financial condition, performance, results, strategy and objectives.
Statements containing the words "believes", "intends", "expects", "plans",
"seeks" and "anticipates", and words of similar meaning, are forward-looking. By
their nature, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty
because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond
Prudential's control including among other things, UK domestic and global
economic and business conditions, market related risks such as fluctuations in
interest rates and exchange rates, and the performance of financial markets
generally; the policies and actions of regulatory authorities, the impact of
competition, inflation, and deflation; experience in particular with regard to
mortality and morbidity trends, lapse rates and policy renewal rates; the
timing, impact and other uncertainties of future acquisitions or combinations
within relevant industries; and the impact of changes in capital, solvency or
accounting standards, and tax and other legislation and regulations in the
jurisdictions in which Prudential and its affiliates operate. This may for
example result in changes to assumptions used for determining results of
operations or re-estimations of reserves for future policy benefits. As a
result, Prudential's actual future financial condition, performance and results
may differ materially from the plans, goals, and expectations set forth in
Prudential's forward-looking statements. Prudential undertakes no obligation to
update the forward-looking statements contained in this statement or any other
forward-looking statements it may make.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Date 18 November 2004
PRUDENTIAL PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
By: /s/ Clare Staley
Head of Group Media Relations