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EXHIBIT 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tad Lowrey, Jackson Federal Bank chairman and CEO
909/383-2201
Jackson National Life(R) completes purchase
of Highland Bancorp
SAN BERNARDINO, CA -- October 2, 2000 -- Jackson Federal Bank(R), a wholly
owned subsidiary of Jackson National Life Insurance Company (R), today announced
it has completed its purchase of Highland Bancorp, Inc. for $25.45 per share.
Highland Bancorp is the holding company for Highland Federal Bank, which
operates seven retail branches in Southern California.
As a result of the purchase, Highland Federal has been merged with Jackson
Federal and Highland Federal's retail branch offices are now Jackson Federal
branch offices. With the completion of the purchase, Jackson Federal now
operates 14 branch offices in the Southern California market and has assets
exceeding $1 billion. This is the second acquisition this year for Jackson
Federal; in March, Jackson Federal closed an acquisition of three retail
branches from Fidelity Federal Bank.
"This purchase represents another important step in the diversification strategy
for both Jackson Federal and its parent company, Jackson National Life," said
Tad Lowrey, chairman and chief executive officer of Jackson Federal. "Through
this merger, we hope to further Highland Federal's success in the commercial and
multi-family lending niche." Highland Federal was recently ranked second among
the nation's top-performing community banks.*
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Jackson Federal Bank and Highland Bancorp
Page 2 of 2
"Customers can expect Highland Federal's tradition of excellent service to
continue," said Lowrey. "As we move forward, customers can also expect an even
broader range of financial products and services than were previously available
to them. The full integration of the Highland Federal branches into the Jackson
Federal retail network is scheduled for early December.
Jackson National Life, headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, is one of America's
largest life insurance companies, with more than $138 billion of life insurance
in force and more than $43 billion in assets (GAAP), with $41 billion in
liabilities set aside to pay primarily future policyowner benefits. It is also
one of America' leading annuity writers, with more than $3.9 billion of fixed
and variable annuity sales in 1999. Jackson National is wholly owned by the
United Kingdom's Prudential plc, (NYSE: PUK) a leading financial services group
with operations in Europe, Asia, and the United States (not affiliated with
Prudential Insurance Company of America).
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Source: Los Angeles Times,
October 2000
The following cautionary statement is included to make applicable and take
advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of,
the Company. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans,
objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying
assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical
facts. However, as with any projection or forecast, forward-looking statements
are inherently susceptible to a number of risks and uncertainties and actual
results and events could differ materially form those currently being
anticipated as reflected in such forward-looking statements. There can be no
assurance that management's expectations, beliefs or projections will result or
be achieved or accomplished.
