Foresters completes acquisition of Unity Life

Unity Life will represent Foresters in Canada

TORONTO - Foresters(TM) and Unity Life of Canada announced completion of the agreement under which Unity Life becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Foresters and will represent Foresters in the Canadian market as Unity Life of Canada, a Foresters Company.

The announcement follows the April 2nd completion of the sponsored demutualization of Unity Life, which recently received approval from eligible Unity Life policyholders and Canadian regulatory authorities, and a share transaction between the two parties. The $50 million in proceeds from the share transaction will be paid to eligible policyholders in exchange for their voting control and their share of the value of Unity Life.

In making the announcement, George Mohacsi, Foresters President and CEO, said: "This is a very important development for Foresters. Our partnership with Unity Life, with its national coverage and outstanding marketing and distribution capabilities, will significantly strengthen our Canadian business and allow us to achieve our strategic goals for Canada of improving our financial results, growing our membership and strengthening our members' communities."

Tony Poole, President and CEO of Unity Life, said: "The conclusion of this transaction with Foresters represents a major milestone in the development of Unity Life which will contribute significantly to our future growth and success. Our partnership with Foresters represents a meshing of the complementary strengths of the two organizations and will provide the strong financial backing and access to capital we need to realize our Canadian growth strategy. We look forward to representing such a fine organization in the Canadian marketplace."

Commencing in mid-April, Unity Life will make cash payments to up to 15,000 eligible Unity Life policyholders. The average payment to eligible policyholders will be $3,300, with the exact amount based on factors such as the size, policy cash value and duration of their policies. The insurance coverage, policy values, premiums and the right to receive experience dividends of Unity Life policyholders will be unaffected by the sponsored demutualization.

Foresters future Canadian sales and marketing operations will be conducted exclusively through Unity Life. Unity Life customers will have access to the product lines of both Foresters and Unity Life. New customers who purchase eligible individual life insurance products from Unity Life will become full voting members of Foresters and enjoy all Foresters member entitlements and benefits. Additionally, Foresters will take on some Unity?Life corporate activities that are presently outsourced.

Foresters Canadian financial representatives have been offered distribution contracts with Unity Life. Many of these representatives have become independent agents with Unity Life and will continue to serve Foresters members in their communities as before. For Foresters members whose current financial representative has not transitioned to Unity Life, a new representative will be appointed to service their business.

For further information on these arrangements, Foresters members are asked to contact their Foresters representative directly or call the Foresters Service Center at 1-800-828-1540 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST.