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Thursday, 10/22/2015 7:47:32 AM

Thursday, October 22, 2015 7:47:32 AM

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Kansas City Life starts process to go private (7/28/15)

Ashley Jost

Kansas City Life Insurance Co. is getting ready to go private.

More specifically, the company is proposing moves that would let it reduce the number of shareholders to a point where it could avoid the reporting that goes with being a publicly traded company.

“The incentive is that this is expected to reduce expenses associated with being a registered company with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” CFO Tracy Knapp said.

According to a filing with the SEC on Tuesday, the company proposes a 1-for-250 reverse stock split of its capital stock, followed immediately by a 250-for-1 forward stock split of its common stock. Stockholders with fewer than 250 shares of common stock before the move would receive $52.50 a share.

The company's stock closed Tuesday at $43.03 a share.

A voting group that includes members of the Bixby family controls more than 50 percent of Kansas City Life stock. CEO R. Philip Bixby and his brother, Vice Chairman Walter "Web" Bixby, are the fourth generation of the Bixby family to lead the company.

The move would not result in a change in control of the company, the SEC document states.

Knapp said more details about the process will be filed soon in a proxy statement with the SEC.

Tuesday's release said a stockholders meeting would be scheduled for Dec. 15. If approved, the stock splits would take place shortly afterward.

Kansas City Life offers life, dental, vision and disability insurance through in-house agents, group brokers and third-party marketing arrangements. The company was established in 1895 and currently employs more than 400 associates. It ranked No. 19 on the Kansas City Business Journal's list of Top Area Public Companies, based on 2014 revenue of $465 million.

Kansas City Life had revenue of $108.8 million and earnings of nearly $10.9 million, or $1.01 a share for the quarter that ended June 30. That compares with revenue of $116.6 million and earnings of $8.6 million, or 78 cents a share, for the same period last year.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2015/07/28/kansas-city-life-starts-process-to-go-private.html

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