Principal Financial to acquire ESOP business from Ascensus, terms undisclosed

Principal Financial announced a definitive agreement with Ascensus to acquire its employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, business. At closing, Principal will add approximately 800 plans and more than 165,000 participants to its workplace savings and retirement solutions business. Through this acquisition, Principal will gain full ownership of the ESOP recordkeeping business from Ascensus, along with its ESOP Economics consulting group and Telescope software. All products, clients, and employees will transition to Principal at the time of close, which is anticipated around the end of the second quarter of 2024.