Nippon Life Insurance is in the final stages of buyout talks with US life insurer Resolution Life Group Holdings, Resolution said yesterday in what would be a $8.2bn deal, reported Reuters.
The acquisition, which was first reported by the Nikkei business daily, would be the biggest ever for 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, 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.
Resolution Life is a closed-book insurer that purchases existing insurance policies from insurers in the US and other countries. Nippon Life has built up a 23% stake in the firm since 2019, spending a total of $1.68bn thus far, Nikkei said.
The acquisition would mark Nippon Life's second major overseas investment this year, following its $3.8bn purchase of a 20% stake in US insurance firm Corebridge Financial in May.