Japan's Nippon Life to acquire US insurer Resolution Life in $8.2 billion deal

TOKYO/HONG KONG: Nippon Life Insurance plans to acquire all the shares it does not own in Resolution Life Group Holdings for about $8.2 billion - an all-cash deal that gives Japan's biggest insurer a firmer footing in the US market.

The deal is the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese insurer to date and the second major transaction announced by Nippon Life this year. Japanese insurers are keen to expand abroad given limited growth prospects at home due to a shrinking and ageing population.

"For some time we have wanted to own a business that could be core in the largest global insurance market - the USA," Hiroshi Shimizu, Nippon Life's president, told a news conference on Wednesday.


"Resolution is an excellent company in a market that will grow so we want to secure its potential," he said.

Nippon Life currently owns about 23% of Bermuda-based Resolution Life and aims to make it a wholly owned subsidiary in the second half of 2025.

The deal values Resolution Life, owned by a range of investors including global investment firm and business partner Blackstone, at $10.6 billion. Resolution Life will continue to be led by Chairman and CEO Clive Cowdery.