INSURANCE

Jefferson-Pilot to Acquire Insurer Alexander Hamilton Life: Greensboro, N.C.-based Jefferson-Pilot Corp. will make the buy for $575 million in cash, the companies said. The deal will almost double Jefferson-Pilot’s assets to about $14 billion. Alexander Hamilton Life Insurance Co. is a wholly owned unit of Household International Inc. of Prospect Heights, Ill. Household, a leading home-equity lender and credit-card issuer, said it wants to focus on its core business. Household will keep Alexander Hamilton’s credit insurance business. Jefferson-Pilot said the combined company would have about $631 million in annual revenue from life insurance premiums, an 89% increase. The increase in annuity revenue would be even more dramatic--more than three times that of Jefferson-Pilot’s alone. Jefferson-Pilot is an insurance company that also operates radio and TV stations. Jefferson-Pilot’s stock rose $1.625 to $57.375, and Household edged up 37.5 cents to $52.125 on the New York Stock Exchange.