acquire the majority of the stock of Creditor Resources Canada Ltd. (CRC), a privately held marketer of credit insurance and vehicle service contracts, based in Burnaby, BC.

Founded in 1987, CRC has become the largest independent marketer of automotive service contracts in Canada, and currently markets the GE Capital and Autoshield VSC programmes throughout Canada, as well as credit insurance products for CIGNA and Life Investors, an AEGON USA company. President and CEO of ACE USA, Denis Reding, said, "CRC will be a natural complement to the new warranty division that we established at ACE USA in April.

"We believe that the companies that will be successful in the service contract industry will feature fully integrated customer service and provide underwriting, sales, marketing and administration. CRC puts us in a most competitive position in this regard.'' The acquisition presents opportunities for other members of the ACE group, as well.