Hartford To Buy Aetna's U.S. Group Life And Disability Business - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - The Hartford announced a definitive agreement to acquire Aetna's U.S. group life and disability business for cash consideration of $1.45 billion. Through the acquisition, The Hartford also obtained digital assets and an integrated absence management platform.

The acquisition will be accretive to The Hartford's earnings in 2018 and will be funded by dividends from its insurance subsidiaries and holding company resources, including the $273 million remaining under the company's 2017 equity repurchase plan.

Aetna projects the impact of the transaction to 2017 earnings per share to be immaterial given the timing of the transaction and slightly dilutive to 2018 earnings per share. Aetna said the company has several options for use of the proceeds of the transaction, including but not limited to internal investments to enhance the customer experience, share repurchases and repayment of debt.