Released on May 26, 1998
Deputy Premier and Crown Investments Corporation Minister DwainLingenfelter today welcomed the sale of most of Crown Life's insurance
business to Canada Life.
"The deal secures jobs in Regina, provides an opportunity to grow as
part of a larger company and will allow the province to recover its
investment in Crown Life," Lingenfelter said.
The province, through Crown Investments Corporation, owns 94 per cent
of HARO Financial corporation which holds 64.44 per cent of Crown
Life's common shares. It provided $272 million to help bring the
company to Regina and a further loan of $149.5 million in 1995. The
1995 loan will be repaid when the deal closes and the balance of the
province's investment will be recovered from the $1.5 billion in
assets which remain in the hands of Crown Life.
"Crown Life has improved its financial position since coming to
Regina, but like all companies in the financial services industry, it
has been forced to consider its future viability in the face of rapid
consolidation," Lingenfelter said. "It has concluded that the best
way to secure the future is to join its insurance business with the
much larger entity of Canada Life."
"CIC has negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with Canada
Life which sets out its commitments to jobs in its new Western
Regional Office as well as programs to support the Saskatchewan
community," Lingenfelter concluded. "We look forward to a long
and fruitful relationship, as one of the top five companies in
the industry uses Regina as a base to expand its business in
Western Canada."
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For more information, contact:
John Wright
Crown Investments Corporation
Regina
Phone: (306) 787-4553