Nippon Life in talks to buy Resolution Life in deal worth $8.2 billion

By Anton Bridge

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nippon Life Insurance is in the final stages of buyout talks with U.S. life insurer Resolution Life Group Holdings, Resolution said on Tuesday, in what would reportedly be a $8.2 billion deal that highlights Japanese insurers' hunt for growth in the world's biggest economy.

The acquisition, which was first reported by the Nikkei business daily, would be worth around $8.2 billion, the newspaper said. If the deal goes ahead, it will be the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Japanese insurer.

Nippon Life will purchase the shares it does not already own in Resolution Life from Blackstone and others to make it a wholly owned subsidiary in the second half of 2025 and will pay for the acquisition with cash on hand, the Nikkei said.

The deal is the latest example of heavyweight Japanese insurance companies going abroad in search of acquisitions in faster-growing markets, given the limited chance for expansion at home where the population is shrinking and ageing.

Bermuda-based Resolution Life confirmed it was in talks about the acquisition but added that these had not concluded and there was no certainty that a transaction would proceed.

A spokesperson for Nippon Life said the company was in talks with Resolution Life, but added it could not disclose what the discussions were about.

Blackstone declined to comment on the Nikkei report

The acquisition would mark Nippon Life's second major overseas investment this year, following its $3.8 billion purchase of a 20% stake in U.S. insurance firm Corebridge Financial in May.

It has also sought to diversify its domestic business, buying nursing care provider Nichii Holdings for 1.4 billion in November last year, but it has lagged other Japanese insurers in U.S. acquisitions.

Property and casualty insurer Tokio Marine Holdings bought speciality insurer HCC Insurance Holdings for $7.5 billion in 2015, paid $2.7 billion in 2011 for Delphi Financial and bought Philadelphia Consolidated for $4.7 billion in 2008.

Cross-border M&A involving Japanese companies has surged this year, driven by amended guidelines designed to encourage takeovers of Japanese firms.

Japanese firms also are continuing to look abroad for growth as their domestic market shrinks.

Resolution Life is a closed-book insurer that purchases existing insurance policies from insurers in the U.S. and other countries.

Nippon Life has built up a 23% stake in the firm since 2019, spending a total of $1.68 billion thus far, the Nikkei said.

(This story has been corrected to say that Nikkei newspaper said the acquisition would be worth around $8.2 billion, not Resolution Life, in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura and Anton Bridge; additional reporting by Harshita Meenaktshi in Bengaluru; editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Jason Neely and Kim Coghill)