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With the completion of Aviva plc's acquisition of AmerUs Group Co., formal planning can now begin on how the two insurance companies will be integrated, according to Tom Godlasky, president and CEO of Aviva USA.
"We have functioned as two independent companies up until now," said Godlasky, formerly the CEO of AmerUs. "Now that the deal is closed, we can get on the ground and begin planning in earnest.
The deal was announced last July, but it took months to get over all of the technical and legal hurdles. "We have had some high-level discussions [about organizational issues], but we needed to clear Hart-Scott-Rodino," Godlasky said. The Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 was enacted to give federal antitrust enforcement agencies a chance to review and investigate before the close of mergers and acquisitions that could decrease competition.
Godlasky said jobs will be added in Des Moines, but that it's too early to say how many. Aviva's only other U.S. presence...