Halifax Building Society, Halifax, England, today announced it will...

Halifax Building Society, Halifax, England, today announced it will acquire Clerical Medical Investment Group, Bristol, for about 800 million ($1.23 billion). The purchase, which is subject to approval by Clerical Medical members, is expected to be completed by year end. Clerical Medical's 14 billion money management unit will remain as an independent entity. While the acquisition largely will boost Halifax's retail and independent financial adviser market, Clerical Medical also manages about 2.5 billion in U.K. segregated pension accounts and 1 billion in U.K. pooled pension assets.