SECURITIES

Liberty Financial to Acquire Colonial Group: The deal is valued at about $310 million in cash and stock. Colonial Group Inc. is the nation’s 29th-largest mutual fund company with $14 billion in assets. Liberty Financial Cos., with about $29 billion in assets under management, is a subsidiary of financial services conglomerate Liberty Mutual Group. Liberty and Colonial are both based in Boston. Colonial stockholders would have a choice of swapping each Colonial share for $40 in cash, one share of common stock in Liberty Financial Cos. or 0.77 share of a newly issued preferred stock.