The transactions, which are expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2012, are subject to the execution of definitive documents and approval by the Office of the Washington Insurance Commissioner and the California Department of Insurance.

GPM Life is a mutual life insurance company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. At December 31, 2011, it had admitted assets of approximately $834 million, net insurance in force of approximately $5.4 billion, and an A.M. Best rating of A-.

Robert J. Ogden, North Coast Life?s president, said, ?Today?s announcement is an important milestone in a process that began in October 2010 with the signing of a non-binding letter of intent and continued throughout all of last year as GPM Life conducted its due diligence investigation of our company. We believe the terms of the transactions are fair and reasonable to all of North Coast Life?s shareholders and we look forward to working with GPM Life in the coming weeks to formalize the transaction documents and proceed to obtaining the regulatory approvals.?