iA Financial Group strengthens its position in vehicle warranties by acquiring three Canadian companies

iA Financial Corporation Inc. (the “Company”), the holding company of iA Financial Group, today announced the acquisition of three companies specializing in vehicle warranties in Canada: WGI Service Plan Division Inc. and WGI Manufacturing Inc., two subsidiaries of C. Walker Group Inc. located in Vancouver and Scarborough, as well as Lubrico Warranty Inc. based in London. These acquisitions are effective immediately.

C. Walker Group is a market leader and longtime partner of iA Financial Group in the Canadian warranty and ancillary products business. The primary business is wholesale manufacturer and administrator of chemical protection products for the automobile industry through more than 950 independent dealers across Canada. WGI Service Plan Division and WGI Manufacturing are well known in the industry for their two brands: Diamond Kote and W3 Solutions. These companies have about 70 employees mainly located in Vancouver and Scarborough.

As for Lubrico Warranty, it sells car warranties through over 4,000 used vehicle dealerships across Canada (except in the province of Quebec), which are honoured at over 3,000 authorized repair facilities. It has 35 employees, excluding sales distributors.

The activities of these companies will be managed under the leadership of the Dealer Services division of iA Financial Group.

“These acquisitions demonstrate how dynamic and important iA Financial Group is in the vehicle warranties industry. We continue to build on our strong foundation in Canada,” said Sean O’Brien, Senior Vice-President, Dealer Services, at iA Financial Group. “With these acquisitions, iA pursues its growth strategy to become a major force in the Canadian automobile ecosystem by achieving scale and industry leading productivity. These acquisitions offer substantial opportunities in respect of client and dealer experience and will make iA more present in used vehicle dealerships. We are pleased to welcome the highly professional teams of WGI and Lubrico Warranty.”

“We are excited that WGI will be joining a visionary and forward-thinking organization,” noted Chuck Walker, owner of C. Walker Group Inc. “iA has demonstrated its commitment to enhancing its car dealer and client experience. We are confident that our clients and dealers will be well served and their interests will continue to be well represented.”

“With Lubrico Warranty becoming part of iA’s Dealer Services division, we anticipate that synergies will allow us to add significant value to the services offered to Canadian consumers looking to acquire a vehicle through our network of dealer partners,” remarked Terry Fletcher, President of Lubrico Warranty Inc.

These acquisitions will be financed from cash on hand and reduce the Company’s solvency ratio by two percentage points. 

Forward-looking Statements
This news release may contain statements relating to strategies used by iA Financial Group or statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “suspect”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “believe”, “estimate”, and “continue” (or the negative thereof), as well as words such as “objective” or “goal” or other similar words or expressions. Such statements constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws. In this news release, forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, information concerning possible or assumed future operating results. These statements are not historical facts; they represent only expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events.

Although iA Financial Group believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to: general business and economic conditions; level of competition and consolidation; changes in laws and regulations including tax laws; liquidity of iA Financial Group including the availability of financing to meet existing financial commitments on their expected maturity dates when required; accuracy of information received from counterparties and the ability of counterparties to meet their obligations; accuracy of accounting policies and actuarial methods used by iA Financial Group; insurance risks including mortality, morbidity, longevity and policyholder behaviour including the occurrence of natural or man-made disasters, pandemic diseases and acts of terrorism.

Additional information about the material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements may be found in the “Risk Management” section of the Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the year 2018, the “Management of Risks Associated with Financial Instruments” note to the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018, and elsewhere in iA Financial Group’s filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators, which are available for review at sedar.com.

The forward-looking statements in this news release reflect iA Financial Group’s expectations as of the date of this document. iA Financial Group does not undertake to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.