Investment Firm Pope Acquires Annuity & Life Re

Annuity & Life Re (Holdings) Ltd. said it has closed on its amalgamation with investment firm Pope Ltd. and Pope's sole shareholder, Pope Investments II.

Pope Asset Management is the manager of Pope Investments LLC and Pope Investments II LLC, which are "pooled investment companies that function and invest much like that of private equity/quasi-hedge funds," according to the company's Web site.

Memphis, Tenn.-based Pope Asset Management offers financial asset management services to high-net-worth individuals (net worth of at least $1 million or an annual income of at least $200,000), according to Pope's Web site.

The life reinsurer will continue under the name Annuity and Life Re. The new officers of the company are William Wells, president, and Casey McCandless, executive vice president. Wells is listed as the portfolio manager of Pope Asset Management, and McCandless is listed as a chartered financial analyst.

Annuity and Life Re shareholders will be contacted regarding the procedures for cancelling their shares in return for the amalgamation consideration, the company said in a statement. The amalgamation consideration per share is 44.6 cents a share. Attempts to reach the company for comment were not immediately successful.

Annuity and Life Re first announced the planned merger in July. Also in July, the company posted a second-quarter net loss of $82,532, narrowing from a net loss of $212,458 for the same quarter a year ago.

Annuity and Life Re (Holdings) Ltd. said it provides annuity and life reinsurance to insurers through its wholly owned subsidiary, Annuity and Life Reassurance Ltd.

(By Meg Green, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Meg.Green@ambest.com)

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