$260 million. 1995 - sold Century 21 to Cendant (known as Hospitality Franchise Systems at the time) while purchasing New England Mutual Life Insurance Company. 1997 - acquired Security First Group in 1997 for $377 million. 1999 - acquired Lincoln National Corporation's individual disability income unit. 1999 - bought out reinsurance provider GenAmerica Corporation for $1.2 billion, as well as its subsidiaries, Reinsurance Group of America and Conning Corporation. That year, the company had grown to serve 7 million policyholders. 2000 - de-mutualization and IPO. The initial public offering was valued at $6.5 billion, which was the largest IPO to that date in United States financial history. MetLife policyholders were asked to choose a cash or stock stake. This IPO made MetLife the most widely owned stock in the United States, and it raised MetLife's value to over $4 billion. By 2000, MetLife's reported number of policyholders had risen to 11 million, and that year it had become the United States' number one life insurer, surpassing Prudential, according to The New York Times. 2000 - $470 million voice and data network management deal with AT&T Solutions. 2001 - acquired Grand Bank of Kingston, New Jersey, which was renamed MetLife Bank. 2001 - invested $1 billion in the United States stock market during 2001, immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks. 2005 - acquired Citigroup’s Travelers Life & Annuity and all of Citigroup's international insurance businesses for $11.8 billion. At the time of the deal, which was completed on July 1, 2005, the Travelers acquisition made MetLife the largest individual life insurer in North America based on sales. 2006 - opened joint-venture insurance company in Shanghai, in May 2006. 2006 - sold Peter Cooper Village, or Stuyvesant Town, the largest apartment complexes in New York City at the time, for $5.4 billion. MetLife had developed the apartment complexes between 1945 and 1947, to house veterans returning home from serving in World War II. 2010 - bought American Life Insurance Company from AIG for . 2011 - sold MetLife bank to GE Capital, exiting banking business. 2021 - Farmers Insurance Group acquired the MetLife Auto & Home business from MetLife, Inc. Current era From 2004 to 2011, MetLife continued to hold its position as the largest life insurer in the United States. The company had $2.5 trillion in policies written, $350 billion in assets under management, over 12 million customers in the