has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article s lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents . please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . july 2014 this article needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . june 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message irish life assurance plc industry financial services founded 1939 1 headquarters dublin ireland key people bill kyle ceo chairman of the board products pensions life assurance parent great west lifeco website www.irishlife.ie irish life assurance commonly known as irish life is an irish life assurance and pensions company . irish life has been part of the great west lifeco group of companies since 2013 when the irish government sold the business . 2 prior to 2012 irish life was part of irish life & permanent . history edit the irish life assurance company was created in 1939 with state assistance and concentrated on life assurance and investment products . by 1936 as a result of the great depression many life assurance companies were technically insolvent . these were amalgamated into irish life . the city of dublin assurance company limited ; the irish life and general assurance company limited ; the irish national assurance company limited ; and the munster and leinster assurance company limited later some british companies shed their irish operations and merged them into this new company . they were the prudential the britannic the liverpool victoria friendly society the pearl and the refuge . the intention was to form a new company and then release its shares back on the market . however other events in 1939 made shares in a life assurance company less attractive . the shares were finally sold in july 1991 . the 1939 company followed the procedures of the prudential its largest component . in 1965 irish life entered the uk market and competed against its former parent initially under its own name . later it acquired the city of westminster assurance . irish life and the city of westminster assurance closed for new business in the uk in 1996 . this closed book was sold to chesnara for 47.5 million on 5 may 2005 . the prudential re entered the irish market under its own name . then sold their second irish operation to the insurance corporation of ireland ici . allied irish banks took over insurance corporation of ireland . shortly afterwards the general insurance company became insolvent . the insurance corporation of ireland life ici life was the life assurance subsidiary of the insurance corporation of ireland the government of ireland wrote off the debts of insurance corporation of ireland and sold the ici life arm as a profitable going concern to prudential . prudential life operated in ireland until its acquisition by irish permanent building society . the life office then traded as progressive life . in 1999 irish life assurance plc and the irish permanent building society merged to form the irish life and permanent group the operations of progressive life and irish life assurance were merged . even though the government had to assist allied irish banks following the debacle of insurance corporation of ireland they established another life assurance company called ark life . contrary to popular opinion irish life assurance was never a semi state company . in 1939 the minister owned 18 % of the shares in the company . in 1947 restructuring and purchase by minister of finance of shares held by british life assurance companies resulting in a government holding of 90.25 % . in july 1991 these shares were released on the market . irish life assurance was a founding member of irish life & permanent plc. in march 2012 during the irish financial crisis the profitable irish life group was purchased from irish life & permanent by the irish state for 1.2 billion as part of the recapitalisation of permanent tsb bank . thus ending the association between irish life assurance and il & p. in july 2013 great west lifeco of canada completed its purchase of irish life from the irish state . 3 references edit about us . irish life . retrieved 8 july 2014 . great west lifeco completes acquisition of irish life pdf . www.irishlifegroup.ie . irish life . retrieved 08 07 2014 . check date values in access date help great west lifeco completes acquisition of irish life pdf . external links edit irish life retail official website irish life investment managers official website irish life corporate business official website v t e power corporation of canada power corporation of canada fr re bourgeois cnp groups gesca power financial la presse cyberpresse.ca great west lifeco igm financial power financial europe b.v. la tribune le nouvelliste the great west life assurance company great west life & annuity insurance co investors group mackenzie investments parjointco n.v. le droit le soleil london life insurance company canada life financial investment planning counsel inc pargesa holding s.a. le quotidien groupe bruxelles lambert retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title irish life assurance plc & oldid 693028214 categories insurance companies of ireland1939 establishments in irelandorganisations based in dublin city hidden categories cs1 errors dateswikipedia introduction cleanup from july 2014all pages needing cleanuparticles covered by wikiproject wikify from july 2014all articles covered by wikiproject wikifywikipedia articles in need of updating from june 2015all wikipedia articles in need of updatinguse dmy dates from july 2015use irish english from july 2015all wikipedia articles written in irish english navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article 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