HBOS PLC, Britain's fourth-largest bank by assets, agreed Friday to buy MLP AG's life insurance units for about $326.7 million to tap rising demand in Germany.
The Edinburgh bank's purchase would exploit demand created by the German government's reductions in spending on retirement and health benefits. MLP of Heidelberg, Germany's largest independent insurance broker, is divesting the units to focus on selling other companies' products.
"The German government is taking the savings gap more seriously than many other countries," John Edwards, chief executive of financial services at HBOS, said in a telephone interview. "There is also a move toward equity-backed investments, and that's good news for a British company because we're seen as experts in this area."
