McKINNEY, Texas -- Life and health insurer Torchmark Corp. said Wednesday that it will buy a privately held insurer, Family Heritage Life Insurance Co. of America, for $218.5 million.

Torchmark, which owns Globe Life and Accident, American Income Life and Liberty National Life, said the acquisition will add 1 to 3 cents to operating earnings per share this year and about 13 to 17 cents next year.

Family Heritage, based in Cleveland, sells supplemental health insurance like cancer, heart disease and stroke coverage as well as life insurance policies. It has about 1,200 sales agents and more than 223,000 policies in force.

Torchmark expects the deal to close early in the fourth quarter. It will fund the acquisition with cash from its subsidiaries.

The McKinney, Texas, company's shares added 5 cents to $49.80 in Wednesday morning trading.