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Swedish Insurer Skandia May Sell Its U.S. Unit Amid Industry Slump

In a sign of increasing turmoil in the life-insurance industry, Sweden's Skandia Insurance Co. has put its once-hot U.S. subsidiary on the block, hoping to shore up the company's balance sheet, people familiar with the matter said.

The U.S. unit, American Skandia Inc., wasn't too long ago the fastest-growing seller of variable annuities. But the annuity sector, pummeled by the volatile and weak stock market, is filled with battered companies as stock analysts and bond-rating agencies lower their ratings on the major companies.