(November 24 – 09:45 ET) – Demutualization has spread south of the border. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. has filed its demutualization plan with the New York State Superintendent of Insurance and has begun mailing the plan to its policyholders.
Under the plan, MetLife will allocate 100% of its stock to its eligible policyholders. The 150,000 Canadians who were policyholders of MetLife on September 28, 1999 are expected to be included in the deal. So will former MetLife policyholders whose policies were transferred to Clarica Life Insurance Co. as part of the sale of MetLife’s Canadian business in 1998 and continueto own these policies. While these shareholders will get a payoff, they won’t be eligible to vote on the plan.
MetLife plans to pursue an IPO as soon as possible, and until the details are finalized the extent of the payoff to Canadians will not be known. It plans to list on the NYSE.
The proposal needs a two-thirds majority for approval. Ballots must be received by February 7, 2000 in order to count. New York’s State Superintendent of Insurance, Neil Levin, will conduct a public hearing on the demutualization plan in New York City on January 24th, 2000 at the Grand Hyatt New York, Empire State Ballroom at 10:00 EST.
In the meantime Metlife has established special toll free numbers forMetLife’s current and former Canadian policyholders:
-1-877-638-5431 – MetLife’s Canadian policyholders
-1-800-345-7322 transferred Clarica policyholders
Copies of all the demutualization plan documents and exhibits will also be available on the company’s Web sites.
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