Great-West Lifeco Inc. today announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co., has reached an agreement to acquire from Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and its affiliates, several parts of their full service-bundled, small and midsize 401(k) as well as some defined benefit plan business.

The acquisition — which also includes the associated dedicated distribution group, including wholesalers, relationship managers and sales associates — nearly doubles both Great-West Life & Annuity’s participants in the 401(k) full service segment, and its distribution capacity.

The agreement includes nearly 2,600 plans, representing approximately 300,000 participants and US$7.5 billion in retirement plan assets.

The transaction is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter of 2006, subject to regulatory approval in the U.S. Lifeco expects the transaction will be accretive to earnings in 2007 and subsequent years.

“This acquisition advances our strategy to position Great-West Life & Annuity as a top provider of retirement plans and services in the U.S.,” said Raymond McFeetors, president and CEO of Great-West Lifeco. “It gives us a significantly broader presence in our target market, the midsize 401(k) segment, where we’ve already established ourselves as an innovative and growing player.”

In addition to its full-service 401(k) business, Great-West Life & Annuity provides a range of retirement products and services to the corporate, government, healthcare, and education markets and to institutional clients. Great-West Life & Annuity, which offers products and services for 401(k), 401(a), 403(b) and 457 retirement plans will, following the transaction, provide these services to more than 20,100 plans representing more than 3.2 million participants with in excess of US$94.1 billion in assets.