"It's Count de Money! De Mo-NAAAY!"
Posted on 09/18/2003 1:13:04 PM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
SYRACUSE, NY--The MONY Group, a financial services company with about 750 employees in downtown Syracuse, will be sold for $1.5 billion to AXA Financial, the U.S. subsidiary of French finance company AXA Group, the companies said Wednesday.
It's too soon to say how the sale will affect Syracuse employees, because the deal is not expected to close until the first quarter of next year, said E.P. Rogers, MONY's senior vice president and chief information officer in Syracuse.
Rogers said the Syracuse operation's strong record bodes well for its future in the integration with AXA Financial. Syracuse has 90 percent of MONY's information technology employees and provides all policyholder services for MONY life insurance and annuities.
"AXA is aware of the strengths of our operation here in Syracuse," Rogers said. "We at MONY are enthusiastic that when they get here and when they see the quality of our work force, and the dedication and the skills that we have here, that they're going to be very impressed. We're just generally very enthusiastic about it."
Employees were notified of the acquisition, which was announced after the stock market closed, late in the day, Rogers said. Meetings are scheduled today.
An integration team, with representatives from MONY and AXA, has been formed to study how best to merge the operations of the two companies, Rogers said.
The AXA Group, based in Paris, is a global financial company with $85 billion in revenues and $850 billion in assets under management. AXA Financial, with $458 billion in assets, is based in New York City. It has been seeking to expand its annuity and life insurance business in North America, which currently accounts for 21 percent of AXA's global revenues.
AXA Financial said it will pay $31 a share for MONY, a 5.7 percent premium over the company's closing price of $29.33 Wednesday.
The deal requires approval from MONY shareholders and regulatory agencies before going ahead.
AXA Financial's subsidiaries include AXA Advisors, its retail sales arm, which has offices in MONY Tower II. AXA Advisors employs about 40 people in Syracuse, said Jeff Tolvin, of AXA Financial.
Other AXA subsidiaries include The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S., Alliance Capital Management, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., and AXA Distributors.
MONY, based in New York City, has $55 billion in assets under management and administration.
MONY cameto Syracuse with about 400 employees in 1966, when it opened the first of the twin MONY towers in downtown Syracuse.
The landmark 20-story buildings have not been owned by the insurer since 1988, but it has a lease on them through 2008.
MONY occupies about 55 percent of the tower complex, Rogers said.
As of Dec. 31, MONY Group Inc. had 4,014 employees.
Combined, AXA and MONY would form the world's largest provider of variable life insurance and the No. 4 provider of variable annuities in the United States.
AXA said the acquisition will increase the reach of its insurance and annuity distribution by about 25 percent, provide new outlets for its products and enhance its wholesale distribution platform.
"One of the things that has been a desire of AXA Financial has been to expand our U.S. presence," Tolvin said.
The deal won't affect any policies held by current MONY policyholders, the companies said.
How many were insured with this French company?
"It's Count de Money! De Mo-NAAAY!"
Excerpted from: UPDATE 2-AXA Financial to buy MONY for $1.5 bln
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