(Reuters) - Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial Inc (>> Sun Life Financial Inc) is in talks to buy New York-based insurer Assurant Inc's (>> Assurant, Inc.) employee-benefits unit for about $900 million, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A deal could be announced within two weeks or the talks could still fall apart, Bloomberg cited the sources as saying.

The assets for sale include life, disability, dental, vision and other types of insurance that people acquire through their employers, the Bloomberg wrote.

Sun Life, which has been expanding its operations in the United States, announced in June that it would buy U.S.-based investment management company Prime Advisors Inc and North American real estate investment manager Bentall Kennedy Group.

Sun Life and Assurant could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours.

Sun Life's stock, which closed on Monday at C$39.26, has fallen about 6 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange this year.

Assurance shares are up nearly 5 percent this year, closing on Monday at $71.59 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Stocks treated in this article : Assurant, Inc., Sun Life Financial Inc