Morneau Shepell announced May 6 that it has reached an agreement to acquire Mercer's stand-alone, large market, health and defined benefit pension plan administration business for its U.S. clients. The total purchase price will be about USD $57 million, stated the company.

Subject to customary closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2019.

Through this acquisition, Morneau Shepell expects to gain 73 of Mercer's large market health and defined benefit pension plan administration clients (1.9 million plan participants) in the United States.

"This planned acquisition is in line with our strategy to grow our business profitably in the U.S. market and further solidify Morneau Shepell as a leading provider of health and DB plan administration across the United States," said Stephen Liptrap, President and Chief Executive Officer, Morneau Shepell. "I am looking forward to welcoming our new employees to Morneau Shepell. With their support and the support of our current staff, we will have the capacity and expertise to deliver exceptional services to our newly acquired clients."

"We expect the transition to Morneau Shepell to be seamless," said Louis Gagnon, Mercer's President, U.S. & Canada. "We will work collaboratively with Morneau Shepell to ensure the ongoing delivery of quality service to our clients and their employees."