Roundup: KeyCorp Agrees to Buy Student-Loan Company

KeyCorp said it has agreed to acquire a Boston company that specializes in originating and servicing student loans.

Terms of the deal, which is scheduled to close in the second quarter, were not disclosed.

The purchase of Knight Insurance Agency Inc., which does business as College Resource Group, will add 100 people to the student loan division of KeyBank USA, the Cleveland company's consumer finance arm.

KeyCorp, which is the third-largest student lender in the nation, has been making student loans for 18 years through College Resource.

KeyCorp had $1 billion in student loan originations in 1995.

College Resource has no assets because it is essentially a seller and servicer. But a KeyCorp spokeswoman said it will provide expertise on educational lending.

Student lending is one of four major businesses for KeyBank, a fledgling consumer finance company.

Knight Insurance is a subsidiary of Providian Corp., a Louisville, Ky., consumer finance company.