First International Asset Management Inc. has agreed, along with its franchisee partners, to sell 100% of the shares of National Financial Corp. to AEGON Canada Inc.

AEGON Canada is a subsidiary of AEGON N.V, and is the parent company of Transamerica Life Canada.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in August 2001.

Toronto-based NFC, which has a 100% ownership interest in Money Concepts (Canada) Ltd. is 63% owned by First Asset, 21% by franchisees, and 16% by the Sylvester family.

Money Concepts (Canada) Ltd. holds the master franchise rights for the Money Concepts brand of financial planning centres in Canada. It is one of the pre-eminent independent financial planning networks in Canada, with 348 representatives operating out of 97 offices and has assets under administration of over $2.4 billion.

In announcing the transaction, George Foegele, chairman, president and CEO of AEGON Canada Inc. and of Transamerica Life Canada, said, “Money Concepts is an excellent fit for our organization. The acquisition provides AEGON Canada with a mutual fund dealer that can be leveraged to meet the needs of Money Concepts franchise owners and their representatives, while at the same time extending the availability of these dealership services to Transamerica Life Canada’s 18,000 independent distributors across Canada.”

“We are delighted that the entire senior management team of National Financial Corporation and Money Concepts (Canada) Ltd. have agreed to join us in building this new organization, ” Foegele added.

In addition to the current transaction, AEGON Canada and First International Asset Management Inc. intend to explore opportunities for collaboration in the development and marketing of high net worth and tax- advantaged products.

Michael Simonetta, president and CEO of First Asset commented, “We are also excited about developing the opportunity with AEGON Canada to collaborate in developing high net worth and tax-advantaged products to be distributed to the over 18,000 independent producers and life insurance agents with whom Transamerica has relationships.”

Established in 1997, First Asset is a privately held company, whose financial sponsors include Borealis Capital, CIBC World Markets, Goldman Sachs Mezzanine Partners and Soros Private Equity Partners.

First Asset’s business comprises 10 wealth management firms with $27 billion in assets under management. First Asset’s affiliates include Beutel Goodman, Montrusco Bolton, Triax Capital, Foyston Gordon and Payne, Deans Knight, Covington Capital and Northwest Mutual Funds.