Horace Mann, a diversified insurance holding company, completed the acquisition of Madison National Life, an insurance company, from Independence Holding Company, a holding company that is principally engaged in underwriting, administering and/or distributing group and individual specialty benefit products, for $173m. “The acquisition of Madison National is immediately accretive to EPS and ROE. The transaction accelerates our progress on all fronts of our multi-year strategic plan: strengthening our product offerings, enhancing our distribution, and adding capabilities to our infrastructure. This ultimately will help us achieve our long-term objectives of a sustainable double-digit ROE and significant education market share growth,” Marita Zuraitis, Horace Mann President and CEO.