The Royal & SunAlliance Canada Group is paying $75 million in cash to take over B.C.-based Canadian Northern Shield Insurance Co. from Cumis Group Ltd.

The Canadian division of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group PLC said today the acquisition will make it the sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in Canada and the market leader in British Columbia.

The purchase from Cumis, a provider of financial services and products to credit unions, “enables us to further diversify our business and continue to support brokers and their customers with greater capacity and global underwriting expertise,” said R&SA Canada president Rowan Saunders, in a release.

Canadian Northern Shield booked premiums of $164 million last year through more than 200 brokers in B.C.

Cumis president Kenn Lalonde said Canadian Northern Shield is outside the company’s core business because its customer base extends beyond credit unions.

Lalonde said the sale “will enable Cumis to better fulfil its strategic mandate of serving credit unions and their members, and support the growth of the credit union system in Canada.”