Associates to Acquire Unit of Northland

Associates First Capital Corp., America’s largest consumer finance company, said it will buy the insurance business of privately held Northland Co. Dallas-based Associates will pay almost $700 million for the company, or about twice book value, a source familiar with the transaction said. Terms were not disclosed. The unit of Mendota Heights, Minn.-based Northland sells trucking and other commercial property-casualty insurance through independent agents. Associates already sells such coverage through its 100 commercial branch offices. Associates, spun off by Ford Motor Co. earlier this year, has increased other lines of business through acquisitions. Earlier this month it agreed to buy Textron Inc.’s Avco Financial Services consumer lending unit to accelerate its overseas expansion and add branches. In April, it bought SPS Transaction Services Inc., a private-label credit card business, from Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter, Discover & Co. Associates’ shares fell $5.75 to close at $59.13 on the NYSE.