Principal to Sell Retail Offices

Instead of closing its 78 retail production offices, Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, Iowa, has agreed to sell them to American Home Mortgage Inc., New York.Principal announced Jan. 29 that it was closing those offices to concentrate its retail efforts on call center and consumer direct. American Home will pay Principal "a guaranteed profit margin on its current application pipeline, purchase the assets of the branch network, and assume related liabilities," a joint statement said. The existing pipeline will be closed on behalf of Principal. Adding the Principal branches will give American Home 209 retail branches. A trio of Principal executives will make the move to American Home: its head of retail production, Ron Rosenblatt; the head of the Eastern branches, Doug Norman; and the head of the Western branches, Curt Sedgley. The Principal branches had 2002 production of $3.35 billion.