The president and chief executive of Canadian company Great-West Lifeco is expected to travel to Dublin next week to complete a deal to acquire Irish Life from the State.
Northern Ireland-born Allen Loney is expected to sign the deal with the Government in the middle of the week. The sale price is expected to be close to the €1.3 billion that the State paid last year to buy Irish Life from the then Irish Life Permanent listed company.
This split the successful life and pensions group from the troubled Permanent TSB banking business.
The sale of Irish Life has been well flagged. Great-West Lifeco came close to acquiring it in late 2011 but pulled out amid concerns about the euro zone financial crisis. Negotiations were reheated in December. Great-West Lifeco already has a presence in Ireland via Canada Life, which has a 5 per cent share of the market here.
As Irish Life holds a share of 29 per cent, Great-West Lifeco is set to take a major foothold in the Irish market. Mr Loney was born in Lurgan, Co Armagh, in 1945. He worked his way up through the ranks, taking over as president and chief executive in 2008.
Great-West Lifeco generated net premium income of Can $18.8 billion in 2012.
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